Master of Fire
by Nobodies-are-Somebodies
Summary: (HIATUS) The story tells of a young girl as she travels through Kanto to master the power of fire types. Along the way, she will learn that there it more to it then what meets the eye. And when the end comes, something will put light to what all is questioned. Rated T. Just to be sure.
1. Chapter 1

**=Chapter One: Starting the Fire=**

Celadon City, the city of the rainbow's colors. The largest city in the region of Kanto and a destination all trainers must go to if they wish to compete in the Pokémon league.

The city is known for having nature grow around it, while still becoming urban enough for the people to thrive. The trees and other plant life have almost shielded the city from the rest of the region, but not enough for anyone to stay away. It's a place perfect to start a family or just move for a more peaceful life.

The town also has a gym known to follow nature, grass types. And the leader of the gym was very devoted to it. Her name was Erika and she was given the title, "the nature loving princess." She was known to be beautiful, but hard to beat for a badge at the same time. If one were to insult nature in anyway, she would be the first to defend it.

Everyone in the city loved…well… almost everyone.

The city had a huge department store. It had everything anyone needed. On the top of the building, the roof, there was a place for people to sit and watch the view if they wish… only one person was there today. A young girl.

The girl sat on one of the benches, her upper half of her body forward, her arms on the railing that protected her from falling off. She was sipping a can of lemonade she got from the vending machine as she looked down at the all people going about their day.

She let out a quick sigh before sitting up straight and then turned to look behind her. "Growlithe!" She spoke out. A puppy like pokémon, with fur of bright orange and cream suddenly ran up to her. He stopped and sat down when he was next to her.

The girl got up and turned to face the pokémon completely. "Let's go. It's getting boring up here." Growlithe barked his agreement. The moment the girl started walking, Growlithe began following. The two made their way through the store, passing all the people and several flights of stairs before reaching the bottom and getting out of the building.

As the two walked through the streets, others walking by noticed them. Some gave them looks of caution; others looked at them for a second and then just shook their heads. There were even some whispers here and there. All while being done, the girl showed no care.

An officer was walking by and noticed the young girl. As he was about to pass her, he quickly spoken in a deep voice. "Morning Blare. You and your Growlithe staying out of trouble today?"

Blare smirked and spoke back. "No promises Roudy?" The Officer chuckled as he passed her. After that, she continued to not pay attention to anyone.

The looks and whispers were something common for Blare. She got them almost every day by the people in the city. She had a reputation of being a trouble maker. It was nothing extreme. It was things like starting fights, disturbing the peace and other things. It all adds up after time. Though nobody ever wondered why, let alone ask.

There were a few houses in the city. After about an hour of walking, Blare came up to a small one, with walls of cream and a roof of burgundy. She took out her keys from her back pocket and unlocked the door, letting Growlithe go inside first before doing the same.

As she closed the door, she looked around the house. "Dad?" She called out. "Are you home?" Blare waited for an answer, but nothing came in return. She made her way upstairs to her bedroom, with Growlithe right behind her.

The moment she entered her room, she grabbed a book that was on her bedside dresser before falling on her bed. Blare laid on her stomach as she looked at the book, it was a scrapbook. She flipped through it, looking at all the pictures that were in it.

A lot of the photos had her in them and at several different ages, but something that was common in them was the background. A lot of them had a view of the ocean; something that a person who lived or just visiting Celadon City would right away tell you, is not something you would see.

The thing is Blare didn't live in Celadon her entire life. She and her father were originally from Cinnabar Island. And she had lived there for most of her life.

Blare reached the second half of the scrapbook and a picture of her at six with a bold man came up. The moment she saw it, she smirked. They guy in the picture was named Blaine, the Cinnabar island gym leader.

Growing up, Blare looked up to Blaine. Every time she heard that he defeated another trainer, she would feel proud knowing her home was represented by what she thought was the greatest man in all of Kanto. And after meeting him at six years old, she made up her mind that she loved fire type pokémon. And it was her dream to master them and hoped that one day, if Blaine retired, he would ask her to take over the gym.

Growlithe then jumped on the bed and made his way next to Blare, where he sat down and rubbed his head on her arm. Blare looked at him and began to pet him behind the ear, making Growlithe growl in enjoyment.

Blare turned her attention back to the scrapbook. She began to think about when were nine.

Her tenth birthday was coming up in about a week. As most know, when a child's tenth birthday comes, they're able to get their first pokémon and begin traveling. Though… something happened.

Her father had a job on the island. Blare never asked what it was, but whatever it was, it suddenly made them have to move to this city. She was crushed when she found that out. And she didn't take it without a fight. Blare was so messed up that when her birthday came up, she threw the idea away. She didn't bother with any of it.

That was three years ago… and tomorrow she was turning thirteen.

Growlithe then yawned and began to fall asleep. Blare smiled at him. And found it surprising how she felt so close to the little pokémon after how she met.

It was only four months ago. She was taking out the trash one night and heard something moving around the can. When she went around it, there he was. Growlithe was real dirty and it seemed he had been in a fight. Possibly with another wild pokémon.

Blare tried to get near him, but every time she took a step, Growlithe shivered and moved back. So she thought of something. Blare quickly went back inside and grabbed a pokeball had. Her father gave it to her when she was younger, thinking it would be better to catch her first pokémon then to get it the way most kids start.

Growlithe was in bad shape, so Blare knew he was able run away from her. All she had to do was just toss the ball lightly and captured Growlithe. He didn't even bother to try to break out.

She right away went inside and told her father about him. They took him to the pokémon center and the nurse quickly took care of him. Though it was a challenge. He wouldn't let the nurse get near him. He would growl at them or bite at them if their hands got near him. They asked Blare if he did the same when she tried to get near him and he didn't.

It was brought to the conclusion that as a wild pokémon one second and then caught the next, it quickly affect his pride. And he wasn't taking any chances with contact from humans.

Eventually he was able to get healed, but since he was caught, he was considered Blare's now. Bringing him home, he was pretty destructive. He would try to look for a way out and when he was able to, Blare would just return him to his ball.

As time passed, he began to get use to life with Blare and her father. And now most of the time he walked around freely, but always stayed close to Blare.

Growlithe is the only reason at the moment Blare still loves fire pokémon. She sometimes wondered if she still would have helped him if he wasn't a fire type.

She let out a sigh and placed the scrapbook down. She combed her long dark red hair with her hands. Blare thought about the city she was in. One word came to mind, grass.

A main reason she had a problem with living here was how much the people seemed to favor grass types. And with that, the gym and the gym leader. She grew up surrounded by fire. Living on an island and with a volcano at that. Hot temperatures and color green barely around.

And there's that whole thing of grass being weak against fire.

Suddenly she heard the front door open and then shut close. "Blare!" A man's voice called. "Are you home!?"

Blare got up and made her way downstairs. Growlithe was still sleeping.

When she was downstairs, she saw a man going through the fridge in the kitchen. Blare wasn't phased by the man. "Hey dad." She simply said.

The man turned to look at her. "There you are Blare. How all have you been home?"

"A couple of minutes." She replied, shrugging a bit, and then asked, "You were held back at work?"

He nodded lightly and let out a sigh after. "Yea… and I have to go back later. Someone called in sick and I have to work their shift." There was a moment of silence and then Blare's farther smiled. "But that doesn't mean I forgot it's someone's birthday tomorrow." He then walked over and placed a kiss on her forehead before messing with her hair a bit.

He made his way to the living room and Blare followed. They sat down on the sofa and Blare's father turned on the TV. The moment it was on, Blare groaned annoyed at what they were showing.

They were showing a battle that was happening right at that moment at the Celadon Gym. A news reporter was explaining everything that was happening. And the cameraman was moving between Erika and trainer challenging.

Blare quickly stood up. "I'm going back to my room." She was about to walk when her father spoke. "Wait Blare. I need to talk to you about something."

Blare groaned as she peeked at the TV. "Can you at least turn that off? All that grass is…annoying me."

Her father did as she asked and then patted the spot she was sitting in a moment ago, gesturing her to sit down again. She sat down.

Her father took in a deep breath and then spoke. "So… we've been living here for a few years now… and it's obvious this place has been a problem with you." He paused for a moment before continuing. "And since it's your birthday tomorrow… I was thinking… maybe you should start traveling."

Blare sighed and was about to say something, but her father kept going. "Now hear me out for a moment. I know you threw the idea away a long time ago, but when you were younger, that's all you talked about… And you and Growlithe really seem to bond fast."

Blare quickly spoke before her farther could cut her off. "Look dad, I know it would be best if I did travel around… but I don't know. I just don't have that same feel about it."

For a moment it was quiet. Then, Blare's father got up and theft the room for a minute or two. After, he came back with a small sack in his hands and sat down next to his daughter again. He looked at the sack at the moment and then at Blare before handing it to her.

Blare took it and was about to open it, but her father quickly stopped. "No, wait, Blare don't open it." Blare looked at him in confusion.

Her father continued. "What's in that sack is a surprise. I got it for you about a month after you found Growlithe. I thought, in case if you decided to travel, this might help you… but… I don't want you to see wants in it until you really need to."

Blare was still confused, so her father tried to be clearer. "If you decided to travel… when you reach a certain situation… if you feel it's real important… then you take out what's in that sack. And choose if you need to use it… but until then, don't look inside it."

Blare looked at the sack for a moment and then at her father. After a second or two she hugged him and smiled.

When night came, Blare went to bed while her father went to work.

She wasn't sleeping well tonight. Her eyes were locked onto her clock. In two minutes it would be midnight. And that would mean it was her birthday.

Next to her clock was the sack. She wanted to look at what was inside, but her father said to wait and that was only if she was planning to travel. Blare was still in a mix about that.

She sat up and looked at Growlithe, who was sleeping at the end of the bed. She really has bonded with him. And in a way, it was like she was already in the process of mastering fire types.

Blare looked at the clock again… it was now officially her birthday.

She got out of bed and began to pace around her room. Her mind was going all over the place. She was starting to get frustrated.

Blare stood by her bedroom window and looked outside. Since the very moment she stepped into this city, it's been a problem. Having a reputation and being judged everyday by complete strangers. As much as she tried to ignore it, the idea did keep coming up. And it could get worse the longer she stayed.

Though, there was also the thought of how long she has been pushing traveling aside. Many people her age would have possibly seen the whole world by now. It may seem strange that she would just start now.

Blare slowly walked back to bed and when she sat down, she looked at Growlithe. She lightly pet him, making sure not to wake him up…she made her choice.

The sun soon came up and a new day began.

Blare's father came downstairs yawning, showing he had just woken up. He made his through living room with his eyes half open and was almost to the kitchen when he noticed something.

He took a few steps back and turned his attention to the sofa. There he saw Blare sitting and Growlithe right next to her, both looking at TV. Her father looked at a clock that was hanging on the wall and saw it was six in the morning. He then looked back at Blare and saw she was fully dressed. A backpack that looked full was resting next to her legs.

Blare caught something moving in the corner of her eye and turned to see her father. She quickly stood up and faced him.

Her father smiled at her. "Happy birthday Blare." He said in almost a whisper.

"Thanks dad." Blare responded in the same tone as her father, who looked at the bag one more time.

"So," Her father started off. "I guess you made a decision already."

Blare nodded. "Yea, I did… I thought about what you said yesterday… and… I've decided to actually travel." A small smile danced on her lips. "I think it would be best for me to go and leave this place."

Blare's father looked at the floor for a second, his expression was question. He was thinking out it. And then, as fast at the expression came, he snapped his fingers. He remembered something.

Before Blare could react, her father quickly left the room, but not before staying he would be right back.

At this time Blare turned her attention towards Growlithe. He was still on the sofa and he looked at her, waging his tail. It was that this moment Blare realized that Growlithe stood as her starter Pokémon. Not only that, but now he would have to battle. Something Blare has never seen him do before. The only attack Blare knew he had was Bite and nothing more. She never actually took the time to think about this stuff.

Footsteps suddenly appeared and Blare turned around to see her father walking in. He had both his hands behind his back. When he was a foot away from his daughter, he stopped in his tracks. A second after, he revealed what was in his hands.

In his left, a pokedex. And in his right, five pokeballs.

"I've had them for a while." Blare's father began. "I made a call to someone in a place called Pallet Town back when we lived in Cinnabar. I was going to give them to you when you turned ten, but… anyways, here you go. Your information is already in the pokedex."

Blare was speechless as she slowly took them from her father's hands.

Her father continued speaking. "So… when are you planning to leave?"

Blare looked directly at her father. "Well I have everything I need packed already, I ate before you got down here and I so did Growlithe… and now that you gave me these… I guess right now would be a good time."

Silence came after that. Growlithe's ears twitched at the sudden change in volume and he jumped off the sofa and stood next to Blare.

Blare's father then placed a hand on top of Blare's head and lightly patted. Blare then moved closer to her dad and wrapped her harms around him, hugging. Which, her father returned back to her.

The stayed the way for what seemed like several minutes before they let go. And grabbed her bag.

The three then made their way to door.

It was a Saturday, so there weren't many people up at this time. Blare and Growlithe stood outside of the house. The warm spring breeze gently went through Blare's hair, getting in front of her view a bit.

"So which way are you two going?" Blare's father asked.

"We're going to go east." This was all Blare said as an answer.

At the moment, she felt a tight knot forming inside her. She didn't have to question why it was there. She knew it was because this was it… she was actually going to begin her journey.

"I love you." Her father quietly said.

"I love you too dad." She responded in the same tone. She then looked down at Growlithe, who looked up at her at the same time. "Come on Growlithe. Let's get going." She said. Growlithe barked his agreement.

Blare and her father hugged each other one more time… And then Blare and Growlithe began to walk off.

Blare made sure not to turn around and look at her father. She knew if she did, there would be a chance she would decide to stay. And because of that, she wouldn't grow. And neither would Growlithe.

She kept her mind distracted by thinking about her goal. She had a bad reputation in this city and by following her goal; Blare knew she would be able to erase it.

She wasn't planning on coming back here anytime soon, but when she did, Blare was going to make sure she came back a master of fire.

**=End of Chapter One=**


	2. Chapter 2

**=Chapter Two: Growing the Flame=**

They were only an hour into it their journey. They had only just gotten outside of Celadon City. And it finally showed.

Growlithe sat down next to Blare. He laid his head on her lap, trying to comfort her. Blare was on the grass with her back on a tree, crying hysterically. She was crying because she held it in. It was only an hour, but this was the first hour in who knows how long she would be away from her father.

This was why she didn't look at him when she started walking off. It was safe to look behind after a few minutes, but she held it in until she was completely out of the city. And when she took of glimpse, it struck her.

It was one thing to say you're going to do something, but it a completely different when you really go through with it.

"I can't do it!" Blare screamed through her tears and making Growlithe jump in surprise. "I can't do it!" She screamed again. Blare got up and began quickly walking towards the city. "Growlithe! Come on, we're going back!"

Growlithe, shocked by this, quickly ran ahead of Blare. And when he was ahead just enough, he stopped and turned to face her. He began to bark at Blare and none stop.

Blare stopped moving and looked at him. She was still crying, but it was simmering down at the moment. She kept seeing Growlithe barking. He looked angry at her, but in the state she was in at the moment, Blare couldn't really get what Growlithe was trying to tell her. So she ignored him and walked around him.

Growlithe continued to bark at her, but this time Blare didn't stop moving. Because of that, Growlithe stopped barking and now began to growl, the volume slowly getting louder and louder. It was growing with every step Blare was taking.

Suddenly Growlithe barked again, but it was just once. And it was different. The moment he let it out, a see through wave shot out from him and went straight towards Blare. It both hit her and went through her. The speed it was going made her hair fly ahead and the forced caused her to lose balance. Blare quickly fell to the ground.

The grass softened the fall and Blare slowly was able to get herself up. When she was on her knees, she turned around to look at Growlithe, who growled angrily. Blare wasn't crying anymore and felt goose bumps appear on her legs and arms. She knew a few Pokémon moves and definitely knew what Growlithe used.

Growlithe just used Roar. The move normally made a trained pokémon go back into its ball and wild ones flee, but it seemed to make Blare stop what she was doing and even feeling.

She got up and faced Growlithe. It was clear to Blare that Growlithe really wanted to travel himself and was going to make sure she was too.

Blare crouched down to Growlithe's level and he moved up to her. They looked right into each other's eyes and stayed that way for a moment. Though to make sure Blare didn't try anything, Growlithe still growled in a low tone.

For a moment, Blare looked away and then focused at the tree she was just at a few minutes ago, seeing her backpack resting on it. She stood up after and walked towards it. When she got there, she grabbed her bag, and when through the back space. And after a few seconds of searching, she took out the sack her father gave her the day before.

She tightly gripped it and felt what was in it. Large, about the size of her hand, and several edges. Blare wanted to look inside and see what was in it. Her father told her not to until a time came when she really needed to, but that part didn't really make any sense. Blare couldn't figure out what that meant. How was she going to know when she really needed to see what was inside the sack.

To push the temptation away, she quickly placed the sack back into the backpack. She then let out a sigh and then looked back a Growlithie. He had stopped growling at her.

Blare looked at the city again for a minute. She's left it, but with her father there, she felt more sad then happy about it. And Growlithe defiantly noticed that as he slowly began to growl at her again.

Blare looked at him and smiled lightly. "Don't worry Growlithe. I feel better now." She took one more glimpse at the city. "Come on… let's get going." Growlithe stopped growling and quietly began to follow her. The two continued to go east.

They were already out of the city. So it was wasn't long before they passed a sign stating they were now in what was known as Route 7. Here, they really noticed their journey.

The wild pokémon ran everywhere. Pidgeys were flying by in the sky; groups of Oddish were running around from one bush to another and so forth. And even though a new trainer would be on mission to catch all of them, Blare didn't bother to. She knew full well what she was looking for. She was looking for something like Growlithe, a fire type. And everything that she saw wasn't going there.

And it was like this for some time.

They had been walking surrounded by trees the entire time, so it was a surprise to come up into an open field. The spring breeze invited them and they took it all. Though Blare's nature still was a part of her. And her love of fire was great, so all the grass for miles wasn't completely pleasing.

Growlithe took advantage of the open space and began to run ahead while Blare took her time. She took off her backpack and went through the front pocket. "Let's see… It should be here." She spoke to herself.

Soon, she found what she was looking for before closing the bag and swinging it on her back. She held a rectangular device that was shaded yellow and red and had a large, black oval shaped button in the center. The device was known a town map. If she wanted to know where she was going, all she had to do was use this.

Blare pressed the button and the device quickly split open. A screen appeared and it began to load up. All while Blare kept an eye on Growlithe's distance. Yet loyal to Blare, he knew when to stop. When it did finally load, it quickly showed where the two were.

As Blare studied the map, Growlithe was sniffing the grass and flowers ahead of him. Something about the location was making him all excited inside. He even began to flatten himself to getting closer to the ground. Though suddenly his ears popped up out, he'd heard something. He raised his head and looked ahead.

Blare was looking at every point the map was showing her. "Hmm… okay… if we keep going this way… seems like we'll end up somewhere called… Saffron City." She paused for a moment. Blare looked up at the sky for a few seconds before seeing where she was on the map. She then continued. "Alright then. If we keep going at this pace, we should get there before it gets dark."

With that, she closed the map and looked for Growlithe. "Growlithe, where are you! We have to get going!" She called out for him. At first she didn't seem him, but then saw he was several yards away, looking off somewhere.

She began to walk over to him. "Growlithe!" She called out again to him. Growlithe didn't react to her. He kept looking off. "Growlithe! Come on!"

Growlithe wasn't moving.

Blare reached him and stood right behind him. Growlithe could clearly tell at this point that Blare was there, but still he didn't react. So Blare crouched down to Growlithe's level. She looked at him, waiting for him to react to her presence. "…Growlithe?" She said in a whisper.

Suddenly Growlithe flinched. His ears twitched and his nose wiggled, smelling something. He quickly stood up on all fours and turned towards Blare. He started barking hysterically at her, his body began to shiver nonstop.

Blare was surprised at the pokémon's sudden actions. He was barking, but unlike last time, Growlithe wasn't angry… he looked terrified.

Growlithe stopped barking for a second and looked behind himself, at the scene he was looking continuously just moments ago. Soon after, he looked back and Blare and began barking again. His body the entire time never stopped shivering.

Blare couldn't understand why Growlithe was doing this. She looked off at the sight Growlithe seemed so drawn to. The open field they were in seemed to go on for a few more miles and then the trees took over again. She stood up, and at first Blare couldn't find what could be a reason for Growlithe's behavior. Yet the she caught something just barely.

It was within the trees… dots, white dots, five of them. They were moving about, jumping up and down. Blare squinted her eyes, trying to see what they were. Though it wasn't helping her much. And then Blare heard whimpering. She looked down at Growlithe and saw he was now behind her.

She looked ahead again and saw the dots were coming to their direction at a fast speed. Slowly, but surely, they became more descriptive. Little by little, Blare could make out tails, arms, legs and ears. The tails were long and almost straight. The ends were brown and curled. The legs had three toes on each on the feet, two in the front and one on the back. Like the tail, the ends of the leg and arm were brown.

"I've never seen those kind of pokémon before?" Blare said, her tone a bit on guard. She then remembered the pokedex her father gave her. She quickly took it out of her backpack, but the pokémon were still far and too hard to tell completely. She had to go through the list manually until she found a pokémon that looked close enough to the five that were coming towards her.

The pokedex voiced the info.

"_**Mankey, the Pig Monkey Pokémon. **_

_**Mankey are extremely quick to anger. They could be docile one moment then thrashing away the next instant."**_

"Mankey, huh?" Blare looked carefully at the photo that on the pokedex. It looked like what was coming over towards her and Growlithe.

Just then, Growlithe barked out. Blare looked at him for a second and then ahead. She flinched in shock at how close they had gotten now. And at this point, Blare could see they were no doubt Mankey… and angry ones. The way they were acting seemed almost like they were ready beat something. Like they were looking for something to do it right now… like they had found something… now… their eyes were locked onto Blare and Growlithe.

It finally hit Blare. All that barking Growlithe was doing, the shivers he was giving out, and it made sense now. Run. That was what Growlithe was trying to tell her. Blare needed to run right now.

Without thinking it twice, Blare turned around and started running with Growilthe right next to her.

They ran as fast as they could, with Growilthe, having four legs, quickly getting the head lead. Blare had no idea what to do. It was all happening so fast. She took a quick peek behind her and heart jumped in speed, seeing how close the Mankeys were getting.

It was fine running out in the open field, but soon they would be back into the forest. There, the trees in every direction and roots growing all over the ground would be a problem. Yet since the idea of stopping wasn't an option and there was nothing else around them, what else could they do or go.

And soon they were surrounded by the trees.

Gowlithe's instincts had kicked in and he was able to easily make his was around the place, but Blare had more of a challenge. Her view ahead was always switching whenever she had to get around a tree, she wasn't even sure if she was going straight half the time. Sure she was in good health, but she knew she would run out of energy at some point.

Blare took another peek behind her. No doubt they were going after her and they were using the trees to keep up, jumping from branch to branch.

As she turned back to look ahead, Blare tried to figure things out. The Mankey came out of nowhere and just went after them. She and Growlithe didn't even do anything, but happen to be there. The only conclusion she could get from that was maybe they were in the Mankey's territory. And they were just after them to get them out.

Blare's thoughts where suddenly put on hold. Her right foot hit one of the roots that were sticking out of the ground. Within seconds she hit the ground and with the speed she was going, caused her to summersault twice before making a complete stop.

Growlithe heard this and stopped running. He looked behind few yards ahead of Blare, but still he was able to see her on the ground. With that, Growlithe started running towards her.

She groaned for a moment, the strength she had in her was mostly used when she was running. The second she stopped, her body acted up with pain.

Blare slowly got herself up on her knees with some struggle. She looked in front of her and saw he backpack was there. One of the straps had ripped off from the impact, but that wasn't what she was concerned of.

Around the backpack were five shadows.

Slowly, Blare raised her head up and looked at the trees. There, the Mankey were all hanging on the branches, holding on them by one hand. All of them glaring down at her.

Terrified at the sight, Blare wasn't able to move her legs or hand to get up. She wasn't even able to look away. The Mankey all had their eyes locked onto her, their body's where shacking with all the anger they had in them… and then they pounced.

The Mankey let go of the branches and dived at her, they screamed in fury. Blare's body finally began to work again, but that she had time to do was screamed.

Just then Growlithe jumped in front of her and as fast as he appeared, he made a move. He swung his head up towards the Mankey and as he was rising, he slowly growled which grew and grew. When he let it out, it became the move Roar. The roar echoed towards the Mankey.

Two of the Mankey were able to move out of the way, but the other three were not as lucky. The roar hit them full on. The two who didn't get hit landed on their feet while the other three fell on the backs. Those three quickly got up and true to the move's affect; they became frightened and fled, leaving the other two behind.

The two remaining Mankey now looked even more angry then before. The set their eyes on Growlithe who glared right them. He stood there in front of his owner, ready to protect her, growling and showing his teeth.

The two Mankey jumped and dived at him; both had one of their legs bent while the other was straight and going for Growlithe. They were using Mega Kick.

The attacks hit Growlithe head on and he flew back, past Blare, who was still on the ground. He quickly soften the blow my stomping his feet onto the ground, slowing down his flight until he had completely stopped.

The Mankey started jumping forwards and Blare quickly put her arms in front of her face for protection. Though it wasn't needed. The Mankey jumped over her and went straight towards Growlithe. Blare put her hands down and turned around.

The Mankey's each had one of their hands glowing and raised up, ready to use Karate Chop. "Growlithe!" Blare screamed, afraid for Growlithe's safety.

The fire type quickly stood his grounds as the attack came. At the last minute, the green see through force field surrounded Growlithe. The Karate Chops slammed on to the force field and Mankey had to jump back. The force field then went away and Growlithe was unharmed.

Blare sighed in relief. Growlithe knew Protect.

This wasn't pleasing to the Mankey. The moment Protect wore off, they pounced on Growlithe and began a series of Fury Swipes. Over and over again, Growlithe took each hit. It all happened so fast, he didn't have time to react.

"Hey!" Blare shouted. "Leave Growlithe alone!" Her voice showed anger. Though it didn't faze the Mankey.

Blare quickly got up and ran at them, she wasn't even thinking. The more beaten Growlithe got, the angrier Blare had gotten. "I SAID, LEAVE GROWLITHE ALONE!" She shouted as loud as possible. She had her right hand closed into a fist. When she was close enough, Blare swung and hit one of the Mankey in the back of the head.

Blare had put as much strength in that one hit as she could, but it seemed to be enough as the Mankey suddenly froze in movement. The other Mankey stopped attacking Growlithe as soon as that happened. It saw the state of its comrade and quickly glared at Blare.

Blare stayed cautious after that move. She took a glimpse of Growlithe between the two Mankey. He was crouching on the ground. He was took a lot of damage and was barely hanging on.

Blare knew she had to help him right away… if only that were easy… The Mankey she hit suddenly began to light up… and soon the other one too.

Their bodies began to morph and take a different shape. Blare was amazed at what she was seeing, but right away knew very well what was happening. She ran around them and quickly, but carfully picked up Growlithe. She then ran back around them again and grabbed her backpack by its only good strap before running towards the open field.

Blare ran as fast as she could, but when she fell, she landed on her right knee first. And so she was limping a bit. This only made her more frightened. She never seen it before, but she read about it before.

Evolution… they were evolving.

Blare saw they were angry as Mankeys…. She wasn't planning on staying to see how they would act if they're evolved.

With Growlithe in her arms, she made her way around the forest, hoping to see the field. Yes being out in the open would be a bad idea, but Blare remembered the map showed a city was of passed there. And that made her hope to find people close by. To give help.

Lucky enough, she was able to get there. The other end of the field was far though, but she continued on.

As she went, Blare noticed she was getting tired faster than before. Growlithe extra weight was the reason for this. It was slowing her down, taking up more time.

She then remembered Growlithe's pokeball. She could send him in it and be able to move faster. Plus it would be a safer place for Growlithe then in her hand. The only problem was that his ball was in the backpack. She had no idea how far those wild pokémon were, so she didn't know how much time she had.

Ultimately Blare had to stop running. She looked at Growlithe and saw he was breathing heavily. He really had to be taken care off. And the faster she went, the quicker that would happen.

She began to crouch down, but a quick pain hit her from her bruised knee. Blare did her best to push it aside. She placed Growlithe on the soft grass. And took off her backpack. She quickly went the front pocket, looking for Growlithe's ball.

Blare almost had it when she heard something… feet running. Her ears became sensitive to the sound. She heard the feet getting closer and soon with it a horrible screech. Her heart was pounding in an unnatural rate.

And then it happened. Her vision was shaking. She felt he body vibrate starting from her feet to her head. Feet stomping from behind grew loud and closer to her. Blare quickly looked behind her, but before should completely turn around, she heard a pounding noise and was stuck by a forces. An aftershock of something.

Before Blare could do anything, the aftershock forced her body ahead. Her feet left the ground and she went flying. Growlithe ended up doing the same.

The aftershock threw them pretty far. Blare soon crashed, but landed head first. She saw a flash when she impacted. And the damage would have been worse if the grass didn't soften the blow.

Back on the ground, Blare had her eyes shut tight, trying to cope with the pain. When she started to open them, her vision was faded. Everything around her was turning black. She was blanking out.

She heard the screech again and with it, the footsteps. She prepared herself for what was to come… or so she thought.

"Use Flamethrower." A male voice appeared.

She couldn't see what was happening, but she could hear it all. She heard the sound of flames spouting from something. And the evolved Mankey started screeching again. There were a few hits here and there, but nothing much.

Soon Blare heard footsteps getting quieter and quieter. Someone was leaving. And then for a moment, silence… the footsteps came back. They were coming closer towards her.

The voice came back as the steps grew louder. "Sorry about that… I didn't mean for the Mankey to go after you."

Blare completely blanked out after that.

**=End of Chapter Two=**


	3. Chapter 3

**=Chapter Three: A Heated First and Double=**

Blare's eyes shot open. Her heart raced at a rapid speed. She breathed in as if she never had done it before. Her mind raced with memories of what happened. The forest, the open field, the Mankey, Growlithe getting hurt.

The memories stopped on that last one… Growlithe… She had placed Growlithe down when she was looking for his ball.

She looked around, but Blare didn't see him. She quickly began to panic. "Growlithe!" She called his name. "Growlithe, where are you!" Blare quickly began to think the worse for the fire type. Yet just then she heard a bark. Blare looked ahead and saw Growlithe running towards her. When he reached her, he jumped on her lap and quickly went to licking her face and wagging his tail.

Blare giggle at Growlithe's affection and began to cuddle him. Though she soon stopped the laughing and took a closer look at the little fire type. His body had no bruises on it and he defiantly had all of his energy. It was as if the attack from the Mankey never happened, but it was obvious that it did. After looking at Growlithe, she noticed she was somewhere else.

They were no longer in the open field. Instead Blare found herself sitting up with her back on a tree. The ground around the two had grass patches here and there, but it was mostly covered with pebbles, rocks and a few large boulders. And a few feet from her right was small river.

Blare took Growlithe off of her and she got up. She was completely confused at how she got here. And then she realized something felt different. She felt lighter then she was supposed to. And then it hit her. Blare looked over her shoulder and saw her backpack wasn't on her. She remembered going through it before.

She started walking and looked around for it. "Come on… where is it?" She spoke to herself as she crossed her arms. "Don't tell me it's still in the field. I don't even know where it is from here."

"So you're awake now, hu?" A male's voice spoke.

Blare turned around; looking at the tree she was just at. She looked at it for a moment. She then took caution as she slowly began to walk towards it. Growlithe on the other hand walked over to it causally and went to the other side. He then just stood there, looking at something.

When Blare got there, she peeked at the other side of the tree. A boy was there. He was sitting down with his back to the tree like Blare had been moments ago. He had his hands placed on his lap with one on top of another. And his head was facing down, a sign he had been sleeping.

Blare walked all the way around the tree and stood in front of the boy. At first she was looking at the boy's shaggy black hair, but then he moved his head up and looked at her with his dark brown eyes. "I was starting to wonder if you had a concussion or smoothing." He said. His tone was kind of hippy-like.

Blare raised a brow. "Um… yea… so… who are you?"

The boy yawned and then got up. "My name is Terro, nice to meet you. And you are?" He smiled at Blare and extended his left arm for a handshake.

Blare looked at the Terro's hand. It was covered with dirt and dust. She moved back a bit. "My name is Blare… and um… sorry, but I'm going to shake your hand."

Terro looked at his hand and shrugged. "Suit yourself… oh; if you're looking for your backpack, it's over there." He said and pointed passed Blare. She turned around and saw it resting on top of a boulder. She quickly ran over to it and picked it up. The first thing she noticed was the broken strap was fixed. She looked at Terro who was stretching his arms up in the air. He continued speaking. "I fixed the strap while you were sleeping. I had a hanging thread on my pants, so I used it."

"Oh… thank you." Blare said quietly. She went through her bag to see everything was is in there. As she did, she spoke to Terro. "So, how long was I out for?"

"Only a few hours. I took care of Growlithe while you were out."

Blare looked at her back when she spoke again. "And… I guess you were the one who saved me from those Mankeys, right?" She turned her attention to Terro, who was crouching down and looking at his reflection in the river.

He nodded. "Yea, but they were Primeape, not Mankey."

Blare went through bag and took out her pokedex. She began to scroll the listed pokémon. "Primeape?"

The pokedex responded.

"_**Primeape, the Pig Monkey Pokémon and the evolved form of Mankey.**_

_**It is always outrageously furious. If it gives chase, it will tenaciously track the target no matter how far."**_

"Primeape." Blare repeated. She started to remember when the Mankey began to light up and morph in shape. She ran before she could see what they looked like. They had evolved.

And that violent screeching. It was coming from them.

"They're still out there. Just to let you know." Terro then spoke. Blare looked at him, not getting what he meant. Terro looked away from his reflection and focused on Blare. "The Primeape. I was only able to make them run away for a short time. They're probably looking for us right now."

Shocked at this, Blare quickly put on her backpack and fast walked over to Terro. "What? Then why are we just standing, we should be moving!" She then turned her attention to Growlithe, who was sitting next to the tree. "Growilthe, come on, let's get going!" The fire type started walking towards them.

Terro stood up straight and lightly shook his head. "It wouldn't matter. Like the pokedex said, they'll keep on tracking us. At least as long as we are in this forest."

"Then let's get out of the forest. I have a map and there's a city nearby." Blare then paused for a moment. And thought about it. "Well… I don't know now. I don't how far it is from here… let just check the map first." She took off her backpack and went for her map.

Terro looked at Blare for a moment and then looked at Growlithe. "Again, I'm sorry for getting you two involved."

"What are you talking about?" Blare asked him as she continued to go through her bag for the map.

Terro tilted his head. "I thought I told you before. I guess you blanked out before that. I said I was sorry for making the Mankey go after you."

Blare suddenly stopped going through her backpack. Her memories quickly echoed in her mind. It jumped through everything she went through until it came to the last thing she remembered before blanking out.

_**"Sorry about that… I didn't mean for the Mankey to go after you."**_

Blare suddenly dropped her backpack. She looked at Terro with a blank look at first. Then slowly, she grew and angry expression. She closed her hand into fist and her green eyes seemed to give of a deep hatred. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAUSED IT?!" She suddenly busted out.

Terro raised a brow, a bit surprised at how loud the volume was compared to what it was coming out of. Blare stomped her way up to Terro until they were nose to nose. She grabbed his shirt and pulled him down a bit. They weren't that much different in size.

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT WE WENT THROUGH!? DO YOU!?" Blare kept on shouting and even began shaking Terro back and forth. Though Terro didn't seemed fazed by her words. "Calmed down." Was his reply in his hippy-like tone.

This infuriated Blare more. "CALM DOWN!? YOU WANT ME TO CALM!?" She tightened her grip on Terro's shirt. He just nodded his response.

Blare then just pushed him. Not hard enough to make him fall, but enough to make his stumble back a few steps. She kept glaring at him and shouting. "THOSE MANKEY CHASED US! THEY BEAT UP GOWLTIHE TO THE POINT WHERE COULDN'T GET UP! AND YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN!?"

Again, Terro just nodded.

Growlithe saw what was happening. He watched Blare get angrier as the seconds past. He groaned at the sight and quickly did something about it. He ran over and stood between them. He faced Blare, who was still going at it. He took a stance and used Roar. The vibration hit Blare and like before, she suddenly stopped was she was doing and became calmer. Her mood changed. She stood there quietly and couldn't reenact how she was feeling a moment ago.

Growlithe sighed and moved aside.

Terro looked down Growlithe and spoke. "Never thought of Roar working in that manner." He then focused back on Blare. "Feel better now?" He asked her.

Blare nodded. "Yea… I'm fine." She then looked at her hands and saw they were covers with light dirt. She took a better look at Terro and saw he covered with dust and dirt. It wasn't just his hands. His clothes where all white, but obviously not as white as it should be. There were a few holes in the pants and getting lower, Blare noticed that he wasn't wearing shoes.

She looked at him directly at the face and raised a brow. "Why are you so dirty?"

Terro smiled childishly and patted his chest, causing a thin dust cloud to appear in the air and then vanish. "What you call dirt, I call being one with the earth." He replied to Blare's question.

Blare kept giving him a weird look. "Okay… and what's with the no shoes thing?"

Terro's hippy voice took affect at this point. "Shoes are just a shield that blocks you from bonding with the earth. It's an illusion made to stop you from understanding life."

Blare just blinked twice at him. "Um… okay deep much? And how long have you had those clothes with you?"

Terro simply replied. "Since I started traveling." With that, Terro walked passed Blare. "Let's go. We should be gone before they get here."

Blare gave him a confused look. "Who gets here?"

Suddenly, Growlithe's ears twitched. He moved his attention to a ledge not that far from where they were. The ledge wasn't that high up. It was somewhere around seven feet higher than the ground they were on. And unlike the ground they stood on, the ground on the ledge was completely cover with grass and had more of the forest look.

Growlithe looked at Blare and Terro and started barking hysterically. Blare turned to him and saw his reaction. The moment she did, she knew exactly what he was telling her.

Violent screeching burst from on the ledge. Feet stomping quickly followed and then the source appeared. They jumped from the ledge and went into the air. They cast a small shadow as they passed the sun. And when they landed, only five feet away from Blare and Terro, the ground shook. Pebbles either vibrated to a different spot or jumped up high and landed on the same.

The Primeape had found them.

Again they screeched their anger and glared at Blare and Terro. This was first time Blare got an actually look at them. They still mostly looked like Mankey when it came to their face and body, but they were larger. Their legs were completely shaded brown and so where their arms. Their hands hand morph to resemble something like boxing gloves. They had lost their tail and their wrists and ankles had shackles.

"Told you to calm down." Spoke Terro who was so calm to the situation. "I had a feeling they were around. Looks like they heard you when you were shouting." Blare was about to shout something at him, but he cut her off and kept on talking. "Enough about that though. Looks like we're going to have to battle them." He went through his pocket and took out a pokeball.

Growlithe jumped in front of Blare before she could process the thought of battling. She never had been in a battle before, so this was all new to her. Yet Growlithe seemed ready for it. Probably wanting to give these Primeapes some payback from earlier.

One of the Primeape saw Growlithe and quickly stomped towards him. It adjusted its right arm, ready to use Mega Punch. Blare freaked, she had no idea what to do. She didn't know if she should command Growlithe to counter with an attack or defend himself. Though she was running out of time as the Primeape was about to strike.

Terro looked at Blare and sighed before throwing the pokeball. "Use Flamethrower." He spoke.

The ball opened and a light shined out. It soon took shape, but the detail of the pokémon was still hidden. Fire spouted shot from what Blare expected to be the mouth. The flames hit the ground between Growlithe and Primeape, causing Primeape to stop its attack and jump back so it wouldn't get burn. After the attack, the pokémon landed and the light went away, revealing what it was.

The pokémon was about three feet tall. It had a tail with a small spike at the tip. It stood on two feet and had two arms. Its skin color was dark brown, except for its stomach, which was a light brown. Its entire head was a skull and in its right hand it held a large bone.

The pokémon pointed the bone at the Primeape as a warning. It looked directly at them and spoke out with a deep and raspy voice. "Marowak!"

Blare looked at it in awe. She remembered the pokémon Terro used before used Flamethrower. She assumed it was a fire type. Though looking at it now, she knew from her logic that it wasn't.

Terro yawned and sat on the ground, crossing his legs. "Alright Marowak… work with Growlithe. Okay Buddy?"

Marowak looked at Growlithe and nodded. Growlithe looked at him in return, but wasn't sure how to respond to this new comrade.

The Primeapes charged at them, both ready to use Mega Punch. Blare began to freak again, but called a move. "Growlithe quick, use Bite!" Growlithe started running toward both of the Primeape, exposing his teeth and growling.

One of the Primeape ran ahead of the other and went for Growlithe. Terro, leaning back as he sat, quickly responded to that, but was still done in a calm manner. "Marowak, protect Growlithe by using Aerial Ace."

Marowak's speed was pretty great. He ran to the Primeape with his arms spread out. A small amount of white streaks appeared around it. He went full on and struck the Primeape. The wild pokémon went flying and smashed into a boulder. It shattered on impact. Pieces of rock went flying everywhere and Primeape laid on top of the rubble. Its eyes were shut tight as a respond to the damage. With that one out of the way, Growlithe continued on towards the other Primeape.

They soon were face to face. Primeape swung it Mega Punch, but Growlithe bit down on the fist. The fire type held down his grip and the Primeape began to go insane. It began to swing its arm everywhere. And with it, Growlithe as well.

The other Primeape quickly recovered and jumped of the rubble. It began stomping about its rage and went for Marowak with another Mega Punch.

"Flamethrower." Terro simply spoke.

Marowak raised his head up and arched his back before swinging forward and bursting out the flames. It went straight for the Primeape and it seemed to be meeting its target. Yet then the Primeape jumped over it at the last minute. It screeched out and locked its sight on Marowak.

Primeape landed just moments after Marowak's Flamethrower was gone. Suddenly, the wild pokémon went ballistic. It began to swing its arms everywhere and stomping the ground. It ran right at Marowak, continually doing this.

Marowak quickly stood his ground and held his bone with both hands. He faced the bone forward. The Primeape crashed into him, but the bone kept their distance. The Primeape kept kicking and punching. It wasn't hitting anything but air, but it didn't seem like it was going to stop anytime soon. It was using Thrash. A move that caused the pokémon to go insane and unable to stop.

The move seemed to be making its way on Marowak. His feet were shaking, but it wasn't because he was running out of strength. The move was forcing Marowak to move back little by little and he was doing his best not to.

Blare was amazed at Marowak's strength. It knew moves like Flamethrower and Ariel Ace and it had great endurance. She looked at Terro sitting. He was acting so mellow and carefree, but with a pokémon like Marowak, it kind of made scene.

Terro then noticed Blare looking and said something. "You know… Growlithe can't keep that up for long. Besides, Bite isn't that affective on fighting types."

Blare felt like slapping herself. She almost forgot about Growlithe. She looked at him and saw he was still holding a grip on the other Primeape's fist. Though the Primeape was now using Karate Chop on him over and over again directly. Growlithe was taking major damage and the only reason he didn't move was because Blare didn't say anything.

"Growlithe, let go!" She finally said. Growlithe released his grip, but at the time, Primeape was about to strike him again. He got hit and Growlithe went flying and soon crashing. "Growlithe!" Blare shouted, worried.

Terro saw Growlithe and then moved his vision back to Marowak, who was still defending himself from Trash. "Use Flamethrower now." He spoke.

Marowak moved his head forward just slightly and spouted the fire. And since the Primeape was so close, the damage was high.

The Primeape screeched out, but this time it wasn't out of anger. It was from pain. When the flames were gone, the Primeape was struggling to stay balanced. Marowak then jumped back and as he was in the air, Terro commanded him. "Use Bonemerage." He said and Marowak threw his bone. It span until it collided on the Primeape head on and it caused the wild pokémon to lose its balance and it fell.

Blare kept her attention Growlithe, who was struggling to stand up. The Primeape he was facing was running towards him, ready to use another Karate Chop. "Quick Growlithe, get up and use Protect!"

Growlithe's feet were shaking violently, but he was able to do it and at the last minute. He created the green force field around him right as Primeape struck. The pokémon hit the force field and had to jump back because of the force of the attack it used. And Blare quickly took that chance.

"Now Growlithe, use Ember!" She commanded. Growlithe took a stance, but suddenly stopped. He looked at Blare with confusion. He didn't seem to know that move. "Oh… don't know it… um… okay… Growlithe use Flamethrower!" Blare commanded again and as a second time, Growlithe looked at her with Confusion. "Um… Fire Spin?" Blare tried. And as a third strike, Blare was given a confused look.

It seemed that Growlithe, even though it was a fire type, did not know any fire type moves.

What made things worse was that, because the two had gotten distracted by this, they didn't notice the Primeape running towards them. It struck Growlithe with a Mega Punch and again Growlithe went flying. This time the little fire type flew until he landed right in front of Blare's feet.

She quickly picked him up and held him tightly. He was in bad shape, just like earlier. And this wasn't the end for the Primeape. It started to run right at her. And with Growlithe down, she was defenseless.

It was just about to reach her, when Marowak's bone suddenly struck it on the side of its face. The Primeape lost its balance and fell to the side.

Blare looked at Marowak, who had his right hand up in the air. His bone soon came back to him and it landed in his hand. He then lowered his hand, looked at Blare for a second, and then walked off towards Terro.

Terro smiled at Marowak and raised his ball in front of him. "Good work Marowak. Return for now."

Marowak nodded once before a red beam came out from the center of the ball, surrounded him, and sent him inside. Terro then got up and looked at Blare. He went through his pocket and took out a round blue berry. "Here" He said, moving it towards Blare. "I gave this to Growlithe before. It's an oran berry. If you feed him this, he'll get his strength back."

Blare looked at the berry for a moment before taking it. Terro moved his attention to the Primeape. Both were knocked out at the moment. "You should get your backpack." He then said to Blare. "They'll wake up sooner or later." He stretched his arms in the air and let out a long. "We should get out of here before that happens." With that, he started walking forward, passed the Primeape.

Blare picked up her bag and put it one arm at a time since she was still holding Growlithe. She quickly followed Terro, but was careful when going around the Primeape.

She looked at Terro from the back. She really was surprised by him. His Marowak was able to take down the Primeape and he didn't even take one hit. Plus Terro wasn't fazed by them. He was sitting down the entire time and spoke as if nothing was happening. That told Blare one thing and that was that Terro was skilled.

Blare then looked down at Growlithe. She felt awful. Twice in one day he'd gotten beaten up. The first time they were caught off guard, but this time she knew what was happening. That's what made it worse. The fact that she knew what to do, but could do it. Battling.

This was the first time she and Growlithe battled… and they lost.

Not only that, it seems she didn't know Growlithe that well. Blare just assumed he would know a fire type move, but he didn't. There really was a lot for her to learn.

As she fed him the oran berry, Blare thought of what might happen on the road ahead…

**=End of Chapter Thee=**


	4. Chapter 4

**=Chapter Four: Burning Events =**

Blare was on the ground, studying the map in her hands. Growlithe was next to her, curled up and sleeping. Today became the official second day of their travels. And still, like yesterday, they were in Route 7. This was much longer then Blare expected to be here.

She looked away from the map for a moment and looked on ahead. A few feet away from her was Terro. He had his back on the ground, with his hands on his chest, sleeping. The sight of him made Blare sigh.

Since the whole Primeape attack, she had been with this guy. This laidback, hippy talking, dirty guy… mostly dirty that is. And though he was the reason they, the Primeape, came after her when they were Mankey, it was pretty clear from how her first battle went that she was going to need him if she wanted to get to the next city. This, by what the map was showing, was about an hour away.

Blare let out another sigh. After the battle, she spent the next several hours trying to work with Terro. And within those hours, there were a few times she would lose it start shouting at him. Each time, Growlithe would have to use Roar on her to calm her down. And it seemed this was the only way to do it.

Growlithe then yawned as it woke up. Blare started to lightly pet him on the head and he growled pleased.

She thought about her goal. She wanted to be a master at using fire types and with Growlithe that was one step taken, but there was a problem. He didn't even know a single fire type move. During the battle, Blare commanded him with one move after another, but all she got were confused looks. It seems all Growlithe knows are Bite, Roar, and Protect.

In Blare's opinion, Growlithe should know at least one fire type move.

She then looked at Terro again, who was still sleeping. She began to think about what happened after the battle with the Primeape. She thought of the conversation they were having…

* * *

Blare had fed Growlithe the oran berry and afterwards, sent him into the pokeball to rest. This time, she kept his ball in her right pocket for easier access after what happened in the first encounter with the Primeape.

She kept her distances from Terro, who she was following. At first, both of them didn't say anything, but after an hour of silence, Blare began talking.

"So…um… are we going to be together now? Or what?" She asked.

Terro turned his head and looked behind himself. "Hm?" He sounded out. Suddenly he stopped walking. He turned completely around and faced Blare. His eyes grew wide with surprise. Blare stopped walking herself, unsure why Terro did, but what he said next was mindboggling.

"How long have you been there?"

At first, Blare just blinked. Yet then her mind processed what Terro just said. Her right brow went up and her mouth dropped. "What? What do you mean how long have I been her? I've been following you for over an hour?" She said.

Terro's eyes grew wider. "Really?" He then looked up at the sky. "Hm… I had no idea."

Blare tried to find the words to say, but at the start she was a bit baffled. "I-you-but… You mean to tell me you had no clue I was following you?" Terro looked down at her simply nodded at her question. Blare looked at him in the face and she could see he really was surprised at this.

Terro then scratched the back of his head. "Why didn't you say anything… you know it's kind of creepy that you silently followed me this whole time."

Again, Blare was too baffled to think of the right words to say. She slapped herself in the forehead. She took a moment to breathe and think before she would lose it. When she was calm, she spoke again. "Back there after the battle, you said, 'you should get your backpack. They'll wake up sooner or later. We should get out of here before that happens.'" She did her best to mimic Terro's hippy talk.

Terro looked at her silently for a second. Then, he grew a suspicious look. "Hey… wait a minute… are you mocking me?"

Blare's left brow twitched. She could feel her temper starting to rise up. So instead of saying something, she sat down on the ground and kept her eyes on her crossed legs.

Terro stood their looking at her for a moment. He then mimicked her and sat the same way, but instead still looked at her. The two stayed in silence for no longer than a minute. Then, Terro leaned forward and tapped Blare on the knee. She looked up at him and he spoke. "Watcha doing?"

Blare's brow twitched again. "Um… sitting?"

"That's nice." Terro replied smiling the whole time.

Blare looked at the guy's bare feet and saw they had dirt and pieces of grass on them. "Hey… I know this is a personal question and everything." She started off. "But do you even bathe… I mean, beside your clothes, you look clean."

Terro nodded. "Of course I bathe. I do every day like everyone does… well… I think everyone does." He then looked at Blare from head to toe. "You seem like you do. Even your clothes a still pretty clean."

Blare looked at her clothes. "I'm pretty sure they would be… I mean, I just started traveling today."

"Oh." Terro said before falling on his back. "Well that would explain the way you used Growlithe in the battle."

Blare forward her brows together. "Oh, and you and your Marowak were so great."

Terro shrugged. "I never said that, but then again you saw how we battled… we just have some more experience then you and Growlithe do."

Blare went quiet. She moved her sight to his clothing, seeing all the dirt, holes and stitching it had. It reminded her was Terro before. That he had them since he began his travels.

"Hey… um how… exactly how long have you been traveling? Blare asked him.

Terro sat back up. "Let's see… with today it's been… almost a year and a half."

Both Blare's brows went up in surprise. "That long? You must have seen every bit of Kanto by know."

Terro shook his head. "No, I've never traveled through Kanto before. I just got here about a week ago."

Blare looked down for a moment. "Oh." Was all she said at first. Then, it suddenly clicked what Terro just said. She looked at him again. "Wait, but you said you've been traveling for over a year. If you're just traveling through Kanto, then where were you traveling before?"

"Through Sinnoh." Terro simply said. With that, he got up. "We should get going." He then turned around and walked.

Blare tilted her head in confusion. "Sinnoh?" She spoke out and then quickly got up, trying to catch up to Terro. "Wait, what's Sinnoh?"

* * *

Blare left her memories when she heard a yawn. She saw Terro stretching his arms and he was slowly sitting. His eyes were half open and he was examining his surroundings. He soon came across Blare and smiled. "Morning." He said.

"Morning." She returned in a lower tone.

Terro quickly stood up and started walking to her. He was rubbing away the grogginess from his eyes with his right arm. "How long have you been awake?" He asked as he gave out a long yawn.

"I don't know. I think an hour now… I've just been looking at the map." She replied as her focused back on the map.

"Are we close to the city?" Terro asked. And Blare nodded right away. "Yea, it should only take an hour to get there by feet." She responded.

Terro nodded and looked at Growlithe, who was still sleeping. "So what are you planning to do when you get to the city?" He then asked.

Blare shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't actually think about that. It was just the closet place on the map." She said. Blare then looked up at Terro, who was standing in front of her. "Have you been to Saffron City?"

Terro nodded. "Yea, but just once." He started off. "It's an okay place… it had some dojo and a gym… besides that, it's basically a normal place."

Blare tilted her head to right out of curiosity. "A gym? That city has a gym… do you know what it's like?" She asked.

Terro shrugged. "Not really. All I know is that the leader is… let's just say something special." He paused for a moment to sit down before continuing. "I heard that she's pretty much a master when she's battling with her pokémon."

Blare looked back at the map. "A master, hu?" Her mind focused on that word, master. She took a peek at Growlithe. She thought that maybe, if she were lucky, she'd be able to meet the gym leader. And speak to her… but what she wanted to speak to her about, Blare wasn't sure of yet.

Suddenly Growlithe yawned and slowly fluttered his eyes open. He slowly stood up and then stretched before looking up to see Blare. The moment the fire type did, he started wagging his tail happily. Blare smiled at him and placed the map on the ground before starting to pet lightly on the top of his head.

She looked at Terro again. "Hey, I never asked before… but what are you traveling around for? I mean, what are you getting out of it?"

Terro blinked twice. "What am I getting out of it?" He smiled brightly. "Easy, ground types!" He spoke out. Blare was a bit surprised. For that very second, Terro's voice didn't give off a hippy-like tone. Yet when he continued talking, it was back. "I love ground types. They're just so delicate, but strong. They represent the earth so much better than any other type out there."

Blare looked at Terro's clothes again. "Well I guess that would explain why you're so dirty." She returned her view back to him directly. "So what made you see ground types like that?"

"Marowak." Terro quickly responded. "He was my first pokémon and he's been with me the entire time." He let out a little sigh. "He kind of got me where I am now."

Blare thought about Marowak against those Primeape. He was so calm and collected, not to mention serious. That last one didn't remind her of Terro, but the first two did. She then spoke. "So then, what? Do you only catch ground types, or something?"

Terro nodded. "Pretty much. I mean if I don't catch them, how will I understand them. Seems kind of silly the opposite way around."

Blare looked away from Terro and quickly to Growlithe. It seemed like Terro was, in a way, doing the same thing that she was doing. Trying to master a specific type. The only difference was the type. She looked at Terro again. "You've battled a lot… what do you do about things like type disadvantages?"

"Well it's not like ground types only know learn ground type moves. They can learn other moves." Terro explained. "I know for a fact that ground types are weak against ice, grass and water types. So I taught my pokémon moves to counter them. Like some of the moves Marowak used yesterday. I taught him Flamethrower because it's strong against ice types. And I taught him Ariel Ace because it's strong against grass types…. I'm still working on water types though.

Don't get me wrong, its sounds like I have it planed out, but it wasn't like that in the beginning. Marowak only knew all ground type moves when we started traveling. It was defiantly a challenge trying to win a battle. And trust me; Marowak wasn't even as serious as he is now. He was a real crier back then… but that's what I loved about the little guy."

Growlithe grew tired of Blare's petting and moved away from her hand. He started walking off and they were still near a river, so he took a drink.

It was then that Blare felt her stomach growl and she realized she hasn't eaten anything since she's been up. And it wasn't long before Terro's own stomach did the same thing.

Terro right away got up on his feet and offered a hand to help Blare up. Yet of course, all she had to do was look at his dirty hand to show she'd rather get up on her own. She picked up the map and her backpack, placed the map in it and through it on. The two started walking. Growlithe noticed and quickly followed. They went off to look for food.

As the three walked, Blare would look ahead, but occasionally peek over to look at Terro. It seemed like if she didn't say something first, Terro would never say anything. And usually it would be quiet because of that. It wasn't like she wanted to go into an endless conversation, but if she happened to be around somebody, it wouldn't hurt.

In the meantime, she thought about the region Terro said he traveled. She lived her whole life in Kanto. To put it more simple, Cinnabar and Celadon. Two places out of the entire region. Meanwhile Terro traveled all through this Sinnoh region and now he was here. He's seen the world and just by going with that, has probably faced almost every kind of trouble out there. The first day in her travel, Blare was barely able to do anything.

She thought about Sinnoh, she thought about Terro her…

* * *

"Wait, what's Sinnoh?" Blare asked Terro.

She continued to ask him this for a couple of minutes, but the entire time, Terro didn't reply. His eyes kept moving around, searching for something.

Blare and Terro soon stopped walking. They was facing a tree with pink, almost heart shaped fruit, hanging on the branches. Before Blare could ask what they had stopped here, Terro suddenly jumped and used his legs and arms to grab onto the tree's trunk. He started climbing up right away and quickly reached the top. No struggle.

Terro sat on one of the branches and swept his way to the center of it. There were several of the heart shaped fruit on the branch he was on and in seconds, he used his body to rock the branch. Soon the fruit snapped their hold on the branch and several began to fall.

Blare quickly took a step back. The fruit hit the ground and rolled to her feet. Terro soon jumped off the tree and landed on his feet. He walked over to Blare and grabbed the fruit. There were four of them. He looked at Blare and gave her a large smile. "Lunch time." He said.

He pointed two of them to Blare and she looked at them for a moment. "It's fine. They're pecha berries. It's okay to eat them." Terro spoke, ensuring her. Blare looked at them for a second more before taking them.

Terro quickly bit one and moaned out his enjoyment of it. Blare on the other hand walked over to the river and washed them. She then sat down and began eating, the sweet flavor quickly hitting her.

Terro walked over and sat next to her. He took another bite and with his full, he spoke. "Its north from her." Blare looked at him, a bit confused. Terro swallowed and continued. "The Sinnoh region. Its north from Kanto."

Blare looked at the pecha berry in her hand. "Oh… well what's it like?"

Terro shrugged. "No different than what Kanto looks like. Then again I haven't been here that long… The pokémon are different, I can tell you that." He took another bite of his berry before he continued. "There is something else though… I got to this region by a ship in a city a bit far from here."

Blare took a bite of her berry. "Yea and?"

Terro looked at her. "Hm… oh nothing. I just wanted to say that?"

Blare raised a brow. "And the reason for that is?"

Terro raised a brow of his own. "Should there be a reason?"

Blare blinked twice at him. "Okay… so… can you… I don't know… describe to me what it's like over there."

Terro finished his first berry and began on his second one. "Well… let's see… it's colder, but just a bit. Like I said its north from here, so even the south end of the region is kind of breezy. I've been to the top of Sinnoh. It snows up there almost all the time. And there's a mountain that takes up almost the entire center of the region." He explained before taking a bite of the berry.

Blare kept looking at him. "So then you must have seen all of Sinnoh… are old are you exactly?" She asked them.

"Fourteen." Terro simply said.

"Oh." Blare spoke. "You're only a year older then I am… I thought you would be older." She began to move away from the conversation and thought about Sinnoh. She knew Kanto wasn't the only region in the world, but she never thought of going anywhere else. Now that Terro brought up Sinnoh, she was curious about it. The idea of different pokémon especially. Different pokémon meant different fire types. And as much as she loved them, Blare knew there a few fire types she had never seen or heard of before.

"What's the matter? You're not hungry?" Terro spoke.

Blare broke from her thoughts and looked at Terro. "Hm? I'm sorry, what?" she asked him.

"You've barely touched your berries. You okay?" Terro asked her. Blare looked at the berries in her hands and then looked at Terro again. He had finished both of his berries and she had only finished half of her first one.

"Yea." Blare began. "I guess I'm just not that hungry." She then took a bite of the berry. As she chewed, she noticed Terro's eyes locked on her other berry. It seemed two wasn't enough for him. Blare handed Terro the berry and he happily took it her, taking a large bite and only half of it left in an instant…

* * *

Blare hit the tree head on. The blow quickly pushed her back and she lost her balance, quickly making her fall down to the ground. She didn't hit the tree that hard, but the impact was enough to make her head buzz a bit. She quickly shook her head and saw Terro and Growlithe standing by her sides.

"You okay?" Terro asked. "I mean I saw you just walk into it, but I didn't think you would keep going."

Blare rubbed the spot on her forehead that collided with tree. "And you didn't try to stop me!?" She asked him, her tone on the borderline of combusting. Growlithe even kept his eyes on her in case he had to use Roar again.

Terro shrugged. "What? I kept saying your name. We were walking and when Growlithe and I stopped, you just kept going."

Blare looked at Growlithe, who nodded his agreement to what Terro said. It seemed Blare was so into her thoughts that she wasn't even aware of what was around her. She heard rushing water and even noticed the river's current was now faster. She then sat there for a moment before getting up. "Oh… never mind then." She spoke calmer.

She saw Terro looking at the tree and focused on it herself. There oran berries growing on it all over. Like yesterday, Terro pounced on the log and started climbing.

As he made his way up, Blare tilted her head out of curiosity. "Are berries the only thing you eat?" She asked him.

"No." Terro answered. "But they're usually the easiest things to find in forests and place not populated."

"From the way you climb, I'm guessing you do this a lot." Blare said.

"Yea, pretty much. Like I said before, I love ground types. The best way to understand them is to live off like they do." Replied Terro. He reached the top and started to shake the branches. Soon three oran berries unattached and started to fall. Blare caught two of them, but ran out of hands to catch the third one. Luckily Gowlithe jumped and caught it in his mouth, clamming it as his. He placed it on the ground and started eating it.

Terro jumped off and landed next to them. Blare handed him one of the oran berries and he quickly took it. He was about to take a bite out of it, when he paused and saw Blare eating hers. She noticed him looking and swallowed before speaking. "What? What is it?"

"You're eating the berry." Terro spoke, sounding a bit surprised.

Blare raised a brow at him. "Yea… I am… I ate one yesterday too, remember?" She spoke.

"That's why." Terro sound more surprised. "You didn't even wash it like yesterday."

Blare took another bite of the berry, and this time spoke with her mouth full. "Well that's because you didn't touch this berry with your hands."

Terro squinted his eyes at Blare. "Are you still going on about my hands being dirty?" He asked.

Blare lightly nodded. "Yes… yes I am."

"You're going to have to get use to dirt. You're traveling around. You are going to get dirty." Terro said before finally taking a bite.

Blare placed her free hand on her hips and rolled her eyes at Terro. "I know that. And I don't have a problem with dirt. I mean we slept on the ground last night. I just have a problem with those hands of yours."

"What's so bad about my hands?" Terro asked.

"I don't know where they've been." Blare quickly answered.

"Touchy." Terro said, taking another bite of his berry.

"Dirty." Blare replied back to him.

After that, they just kept eating. Growlithe finished his before they did and licked his lips clean. He made his way passed them and started sniffing around, just something that came in his nature.

Blare kept her eyes on him as she ate. She thought about their situation. They weren't too far from Saffron City. And from what Terro told her, there's a gym there. Blare wondered if maybe she should ask a favor to the gym leader. That is if she sees them. And if they were willing too.

Terro finished his berry and liked his fingers satisfaction. He looked at Blare and then spoke. "So how far are we from Saffron?"

Blare looked at him. "Not that far. A few minutes away by now."

"Okay." Terro said as he then yawned. "Well, I've got to say; it's really been nice knowing you."

Blare blinked twice in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Terro shrugged. "Well you're almost there, so I guess we'll be going our separate ways." With that, he lightly patted Blare on her back and then started walking away.

Shock hit Blare instantly. "Wait, what?" She ran to catch up to Terro. "What do you mean separate ways?"

"You're close to the city, so I'll just be on my way." Terro answered her.

"So you were just helping me get to the city?" Blare quickly got in front of Terro, causing him to stop and she continued. "I mean, yea, I was hoping that you could help me get there, but then I was thinking we were… I don't know… travel around together."

Terro tilted his head. "What made you think that?" He asked.

Blare just looked at him for a moment. What did make her think that? She didn't see that question coming. "Umm." She said, trying to get some time to think. She thought about it.

The only reason she ended up with Terro was because of the Primeape. And he was the cause of it. He didn't even realize she was walking with him for the first hour. So maybe traveling together wasn't a good idea. Yet then Blare thought of how well he was able to survive in the forest. Terro was able to find food and showed to have great strength and speed whenever he climbed. Not to mention he knew how to battle.

Blare heard chewing and focused on Terro. She was surprised to see him standing there, looking at her and eating an oran berry. "Where did you get that berry?" She asked.

"I went back to tree. You were just standing here, so I got another one." He answered.

"Why?" Blare asked.

"Why not?" Terro countered.

And there was that… Terro was random… very.

Ultimately Blare came up with an answer. "You're right." She started. "I don't know why I thought of that… guess I'll just go." With that Blare began walking passed him. Though stopped when Terro spoke.

"It's not like we're not going to see each other." He began. Blare looked at him and he continued. "Kanto's pretty big, but I'm sure we'll run into each other again."

Blare nodded in agreement. The two looked at each other for few seconds, before turning their backs to the other and walking off.

Growlithe was sitting down near the oran berry tree, waiting for her. The moment Blare passed him, he started following.

Blare could hear Terro's footsteps get quitter and quieter the father they were going. She felt something as this was happening. It was like how she was feeling when she was leaving her father. Not in the sense of missing him, but more in the sense of leaving something she was used to.

I may have been only for a day, but Blare felt pretty close to Terro. It felt like kind of having a big brother. They sure did act like they were.

Growlithe suddenly barked and gained Blare's attention. She looked ahead and saw what he was barking at. A road was starting to form ahead and farther off, she could see buildings appearing.

Saffron City was ahead…

Blare turned to see Terro as a small spec. She took a moment and then turned around before starting to run…

**=End of Chapter Four=**


	5. Chapter 5

**=Chapter Five: Blowing out the Flame =**

"So how've you been?" Blare's father asked her from the other side of the screen.

"I've been okay… I've gotten into some trouble a bit back, but I'm fine now." Blare replied, holding the phone next to her ear.

"Trouble?" He father asked worried. "What kind of trouble? Are you hurt? Are you okay?" He began to go endless list of questions.

"Dad! Dad! Come down. I'm fine, really… I obviously made it to a city and I'm talking to you right now. Trust me, everything is going okay." Blare reassured him. Her father calmed a bit and Blare continued. "I'm glad I'm traveling. There's a lot more to it then I was expecting."

Her father sighed and spoke. "Well, I'm glad to hear that… but where's Growlithe? I don't see him."

"We're at the pokémon center. The nurse is checking him right now." Blare answered. She then paused for a moment and looked at a clock hanging up above her. She then continued speaking. "Speaking of which, I should go and get him. I'm pretty sure the checkup is done." She looked back down to her father. "I'll talk to you later dad. I love you."

"I love you too Blare." Blare's farther replied before the screen went black. She placed the phone on its handle before walking away.

Blare and Growlithe have been in Saffron City for no more than two hours. The first thing they did when they got there was look for the pokémon center and went it.

On the way to it, Blare could see how different this city was compared to Celadon City. Unlike the forest and earthly surroundings that Celadon had, Saffron City seem a bit more urban. There were a few trees here and there, but it defiantly was faster paced. The people here were moving about fast and most of them were in business suits. There was a large building that was towering above all and it seemed to be near the center of the city. Most of the people in suits seemed to be going towards it.

The people who lived here seemed to know that she wasn't from here. They would be a glimpse here and there. The only place she didn't get that was at the center and the reason for that was that the people in there were probably other trainers that weren't from there either.

Blare reached the front desk and saw the nurse was typing away on a computer. The moment she stood there, the nurse noticed her and stopped type. "Oh, Blare, right?" The nurse asked.

Blare nodded and the nurse walked off for a moment. She went over to another desk that was next to large doors that lead to the back of the center. The nurse walked back with a Growlithe's pokeball in her hands. "You're Growlithe is completely fine, he passed his check up with flying colors." Spoke the nurse.

"Thank you Nurse Joy." Blare responded and took Growlithe's ball. She then turned and started making her way to the front entrance.

As she looked at pokeball in her hands, Blare passed two girls who seemed to be her age having a conversation. "Look at half of these guys here." Said one them with short black hair.

"I know right." Spoke the other one who had long blond hair. "These outsiders look so awful. I mean where do they get their clothing? The trash?" Both broke into a loud laughter. The blond kept going. "I mean seriously, just look at that one walking out the center holding the pokeball." Blare suddenly stopped walking. The girl continued talking. "Those jean shorts are so last year and what's with that red hair. A bit much maybe?" The two burst into laughter again. They were so into their snobby attitudes that they didn't noticed Blare walked up to then.

"Excuse me." Blare spoke, causing the girls to jump a bit and stop laughing. They looked at her with disgust. "What do you want?" Said the blond with an attitude.

"Oh nothing. I just wanted to know if you two are from here." Blare said in a very polite manner and still holding Growlithe's ball in her hands.

"Maybe, maybe not. What's it to ya?" The brunette spoke with an attitude just like blond's."

"Oh well… you see… This is my first time in this city and everything. And it's all so much to take in. Everyone here seems so mature and smart. And I saw you two and you seem just like that." Said Blare.

"Us? Mature and smart?" The blond ask, taking in the compliments.

"Oh yes." Blare said, still being polite. "And I was hoping one you would have a pokémon. I'm sure if you did; you would be so skilled that you could take a moment of your time to show me how to battle."

"My friend here has a pokémon." Spoke the brunette.

"Really? Oh please, show me how battling works. Teach me with your talents." Blare pleaded.

Blare's words seemed to have gotten to the blond girl. She smiles wildly at Blare. "Oh of course I will show you how to battle sweetie. It's the least I can do." She said, finishing with a laugh.

* * *

There was a large space in the back of the pokémon center. There were three battlefield aligned side by side for any trainers wishing to battle. Blare and the girls took the center field.

"Alright sweetie. Are you ready to learn how to battle?" The blond said as she and her friend stood on the one side of the field. Blare stood on the other side and nodded while thinking about how stupid these girls were for falling for the innocent act.

"Now then." The blond girl began. "You begin a battle by taking out a pokeball and sending out your pokémon. Like so." The blond girl took out a pokeball and threw it. The ball opened out came a plant like pokémon. Its body was round and had feet but no hands. It had grass growing on top and had beady little eyes.

"Oddish!" It cried out.

"Okay." Blare spoke. "Here I go." She milked it out. Blare pretended to struggle holding the pokeball and almost dropping before getting a good hold on it. "Go Growlithe." She said as she lightly threw the ball. Out came the fire type who barked once.

"Okay, so now you tell your pokémon to do a move. And try to beat your opponent." The blond continued, trying to sound like she knows everything. "Like this. Oddish, go and use Bullet Seed." The Oddish listened to its trainer and began to shoot lit up seed from its mouth, aiming for Growlithe.

"Growlithe, dodge run towards it!" Blare command.

"Hu?" The blond girl said, surprised at Blare's sudden seriousness.

Growlithe started to growl with energy and jumped out of the way of the Bullet Seed. When he landed he started running towards Oddish with great force. Before the girl could do anything, Blare commanded Growlithe again. "Now use bite!"

When Growlithe was close enough, he pounced and bit down on Oddish's leaves. The Oddish began to panic and tried to run, but Growlithe stood his ground and help a tight grip on the pokémon.

"Now throw it!" Blare ordered and Growlithe did just that. The Oddish panicked as it went flying. It hit the ground so hard that you could see the dust clouds rushing off.

"Wha-what the heck!?" The blond said in shock.

"Don't just stand there, tell Oddish to do something!" The brunette shouted at the blond.

"Shut up, I know that!" The blond shouted back. "Oddish get up and use Stun Spore!"

The Oddish rolled itself up and swung its leaves forward. A yellow mist shot out from its leaves and made its way to Growlithe in a fast pace.

"Growlithe, use Protect!" Blare commanded.

The green force field quickly surrounded the fire type right as the Stun Spore reached him. The force field caused the spores to go around it, surrounding it, but not getting near Growlithe. Because of that, the spores expanded away.

"Now use Bite again!" Blare commanded.

The force field disappeared and Growlithe jumped over the spore mist. Again he ran for Oddish and pounced when he was close, biting down on the leaves once more. Again Oddish began to panic before Growilthe threw it and having an outcome like the first time. This time though, when Oddish got up, it panicked at started running to its trainer.

"Don't run to me!" The blond shouted at it. "Turn around and fight!"

"Growlithe." Blare spoke, with a calm tone. "Help out with Roar."

Growlithe took a stance and barked ferociously. The sound rushed towards the running Oddish in a fast speed. It even passed the pokémon. It was easy to tell as you could see Oddish's leaves violently swerving forward. It caused the pokémon to lose its balance and begin summersaulting as the red light surrounded it, showing the move Roar's affect and sending the Oddish back into its ball.

As said before, the Roar continued going. It hit the girl's and their hair started blowing back. When the attack ended, it seemed as if the girl's lost feeling in their legs as they then fell to their knees, dumfounded at what just happened.

Blare calmly walked over to the girls and Growlithe followed her. When she stood in front of them, she didn't say anything at first. The girls just looked at her, not sure what to do or say.

"Now then." Blare began. Suddenly she grabbed the blond girl by the arms and pulled her up so fast that no one had time to realize it just happened. "NOW YOU LISTEN TO ME!" Blare shouted in deep anger. She began to shake the blond girl back and forth. "NEXT TIME YOU DECIDED TO MAKE SMIRKY COMMENTS, HAVE THE BACK BONE TO SAY IT IN MY FACE!" With that, she let go of the girl. "BEAT IT!" Blare added.

The girl's jumped at her voice and quickly started running. Though, it wasn't fast enough in Blare's opinion and looked at Growlithe. "Use roar on them!" Blare spoke, her tone still strong, but a bit calmer.

Growlithe stood his grounds and used Roar once more. The attack hit the girls and it seemed to do the trick as they brought up the speed.

"THE NERVE OF THOSE STUCKUP BRATS!" Blare shouted, back to its previous tone and rage. She started to rant and her temper was getting to her. Growlithe saw this happening and had to use Roar. The effects happened like before and the moment it hit Blare, all the anger suddenly disappeared. She was calm and couldn't get the anger feel back. She looked at the fire type. "Thanks Growlithe. Sorry about losing it like that."

Growlithe bark his understanding.

Blare looked at the direction of where the girls ran. She had an issue when it came to stuck-up people like that. It didn't matter if they were her age or older, every time she was around them, it pissed her off. It was one of the reasons why she would get in trouble a lot back in Celadon City.

Suddenly, it just hit her on what had happened. She and Growlithe had battled… and won… they won a battle against another trainer. Yes the opponent didn't put up that much of a fight, but still. Unlike the dilemma with the Primeape, the two of them were in sync and were able to become victorious. Blare suddenly squealed in joy and picked up Growlithe, who freaked at his trainer's sudden action.

"We won a battle Growly!" Blare said, babying Growlithe's name. This didn't seem to work well with the fire type as it groaned annoyed. Blare continued to squeal her joy. It was a good thing no one was around or else she would have eyes locked on to her.

Just then Growlithe started coughing. He starting going as if he had something stuck in his throat.

Blare quickly noticed and put him down on the ground. "Growlithe… are you okay?" She asked. It was then Growlithe stopped coughing. He shook his head for a moment and then looked up at Blare as if it didn't happen. Blare then pat him on the head. "My bad little guy. Guess I was holding you a bit too tight."

Blare stood back up. She took a moment to think about some things. Because of that little situation with those two girls, Blare had to remember what she was about to do. It took her a few minutes, but then it came up… The Saffron Gym.

* * *

As Blare and Growlithe walked through the city, it seemed clear that finding the gym was going to be a challenge. A few times Blare would stop to ask a person for directions to it, but they would either don't know or give bad directions that would lead them somewhere else.

When noon came, they had been walking for almost four hours. Their feet were aching and sore from it and desperately needed to sit down. They soon came across a large staircase and sat down on the first step. The moment Blare's feet were off the pressure, she let out a long pleased sigh. Growlithe sat next to her.

"Where… is it?" Blare spoke, breathing in several deep breaths. She closed her eyes for a moment and took in the sun's rays. It was a clear day, not a cloud in the sky. Plus there was a nice breeze to cool down with passing by from time to time.

It was here she realize she had no clue how this was going to work. Blare didn't know what to do when she found the place, let alone how to say what she wanted to say to the gym leader.

She then opened her eyes and looked over at Growlithe. "Maybe we should try tomorrow. We should just go back to the pokémon center and get some lunch." She spoke to the fire type. The two heard footsteps and looked ahead. And elderly man with a cane was sluggishly walking by. From how he looked, he didn't seem to notice Blare and Growlithe's presence.

Blare sighed. The old man was there. She decided to look for the gym tomorrow, but she might as well ask one more time for directions. "Hey mister… mister!" She called out. It took a few seconds, but the old man stopped walking and slowly turned toward her and Growlithe. Blare spoke again. "Excuse me mister. You wouldn't happen to know where Saffron gym is, would you."

The old man didn't say anything. He stood there looking at them for little over a minute. He then weakly raised his right arm and pointed toward them.

At first, Blare blinked twice, not getting it. Then she looked at where she was sitting. The staircase. She slowly moved her sight from step to step, until she reached the every top. There, she saw it lead to a large building. It had no windows and it was shaped round and slightly pointed. There were some pretty big doors. Besides that, there were huge words written above the doors… three words.

Saffron City Gym…

Blare blinked twice, processing what she was looking at. "Oh… well… would you look at that."

* * *

The doors opened on their own when Blare and Growlithe stood in front of it. The two walked in and the doors closed behind them right away. They were standing in a hallway. It was dimly lit so it looked like the hall could go forever. The floor was marble and the walls had nothing on them.

"Hello." Blare said and heard her voice echo into the hall. She waited a moment for someone to speak back, but no one did.

She and Growlithe started walking down the hall. The farther they went, the more it seemed the hall really did go on forever. Blare looked around to see if anyone was around, but the place was like a ghost town. She didn't see anyone around. And normally that would tell you the place was closed or abandoned. Though there was no closed sign on the doors. And when asking around, no one said anything about the place not being open.

Suddenly Growlithe stopped walking and started to cough again. It was the same like last time. Blare got down on one knee and checked on the fire type. "Growlithe, what's the matter?" Blare asked her pokémon. Though the cough went as fast as it came.

Blare got back up and continued walking. Yet she kept an eye on Growlithe in case he started to cough again. She found it strange how it suddenly came out of nowhere.

It was then that they reached the end of the hallway. There were two doors there.

Blare placed her hands on door and pushed. She pushed with all the strength she had in her. Yet the door didn't budge. Blare tried again and this time Growlithe tried pushing with her. The doors didn't seem like much, but they were impossible to move. The two stood there and all they were able to do was look at it.

Blare checked the walls again and like before, there was nothing on them. She looked back at the front entrance and it was like a spec at this point. "Maybe we should go back." Blare thought. "Doesn't seem like anybody's here."

Suddenly the door swung open. Blare turned back to it and quickly shut her eyes tightly. A bright light was illuminating from it. It was almost unbearable. Yet it didn't seem to bother Growlithe. Instead he seemed to be on his guard all of a sudden and ran forwards.

It took a few seconds, but then Blare's eyes adjusted. She slowly opened her eyes and was shocked at what she saw.

She was standing in a large room. The walls were metal and gave a shine that allowed light to bounce off it, brightening the room more than it normally would be. The floor was a dark navy blue with a battle field in the center. And at the other end of the room was a big chair that was so high, a person sitting on it wouldn't be able touch the floor. There was at least six feet separating from the seat… and there was someone sitting on it… a woman.

Blare didn't understand what was happening. She looked behind her and was surprised to see the door she was trying to open a minute ago. Somehow she moved from the hallway to this room. Blare then her attention to the woman.

She couldn't have been no more than twenty-one, maybe twenty-two. She had on white pants that shaped to her legs and a black belt with a wide diamond shaped buckle. She had dark pink slippers that matched her dark pink, thin strapped top, which was short and revealed her waist. Her skin tone was almost as if she had never walked under the sun before. The woman had large black and green bracelets on each of her wrists. Her black hair was pretty long and curved at the ends. Her red eyes were locked on Blare.

What happened next sent shivers down Blare's spine…

The woman got out of the chair. Gravity would have caused her to fall fast. Yet she was slowly going down gracefully. There was no wind; her hair wasn't moving or anything. When she reached the floor, there wasn't a sound. Her right foot touched first and then her left. The woman then spoke, causing it to echo in the room and making Blare flinch.

"Are you a trainer?" The woman asked her tone strong, but lacking emotion.

Blare was afraid to answer at first. After what she saw, she wasn't sure what to do. Yet she did spoke. Only one word, "Yes."

"I am Sabrina… I am the leader of this gym… if you have come to win a badge…" She paused for a moment. The woman, Sabrina, raised her right arm up to her chest. Within seconds, a quick flash came in her hand and went away just as fast. A pokeball was now there in hand. It came out of nowhere. Sabrina then continued speaking. "…then you'll have to defeat me in a battle."

Blare's heart was pounding fast. Here she was, in front of the Saffron gym leader. Just like she wanted, but she was terrified. Sabrina was doing stuff that was not human. Moving someone from one place to another, defying gravity, appearing something that wasn't there before. Blare wasn't expecting this.

She looked at Growlithe and saw he was still on his guard. It was easy to tell he sensed Sabrina when the doors suddenly opened.

Blare looked back at Sabrina and took in a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves before finally saying something. "I… I didn't c-come here for a badge." She stuttered a bit. "But… I would s-still like to battle."

Sabrina didn't say anything in return at first. She just looked at Blare… then at Growlithe… then back to Blare again. She stayed that way for about a minute, before speaking.

"Is that what you want?" Sabrina asked, still showing no emotion.

Blare quickly shook her head. She didn't know why that was her response or why she had done it so fast. She thought it must have been the tension.

Sabrina then walked over to the end of the field. "…as you wish." She said.

She faced the pokeball to the field and it opened… out came the pokémon.

It was humanoid and stood almost five feet tall. It was a mix of brown and a sandy brown. It had two long pointed ears and a large mustache. The pokémon had three fingers on each hand and in each it was holding a spoon… it spoke out at the sight of Blare and Growlithe.

"Alakazam!"

Sabrina dropped her hand with the pokeball. Her hips moved slightly to the left, almost unnoticeable. She spoke out in her soulless voice.

"Let the battle begin…"

**=End of Chapter Five=**


	6. Chapter 6

**=Chapter Six: The Burning Mind and The Starting Fire =**

Growlithe ran to the field and seemed ready to battle this new opponent. He was a whole sure of himself then Blare was. She was struggling to get on to her side of the field. She kept looking right at Sabrina, the Saffron City Gym Leader, and right into those emotionless red eyes she had.

Blare finally was able to get to the field. And it was silent after that. No sound was coming from either side. This would have been a good time for Blare to command Growlithe, but her nerves were getting to her.

And then, Growlithe coughed again. This caught her attention. This was third time he's coughed.

Suddenly, Alakazam attacked. The pokémon crossed its spoons together and a blast of multicolor shot out. It went straight at the little fire pokémon with great speed. Blare's mind panicked at how unexpected it happened, but quickly made a move.

"Growlithe, use Protect!" She commanded. Growlithe stood his ground and the force field surrounded him. Alakazam's attack had just reached him a microsecond later. The impact caused the attack to spread in four directions, causing a waving X.

The second Alakazam's attack stopped, Protect wore off. The moment it, Alakazam pointed one of its spoons at Growlithe. Before Blare knew what was happening, the little fire type was suddenly coded in a deep pink aura. The Alakazam then raised the spoon and with it, so did Growlithe.

Blare was flabbergasted at the scene. Growlithe started freaking out the higher in the air he went. He was moving his feet all over, trying to get out of this mysterious force, but there was no luck. It got worse when Alakazam swung the spoon down, causing Growlithe to go the same direction, down.

The fire type slammed onto the floor and he let out a painful whimper. Alakazam didn't stop here. It raised the spoon up again and once more swung down. The aura surrounding Growlithe continued to copy Alakazam's movement, making the fire type go up and slam down. This ended up becoming an endless loop. Growlithe when up and down, up and down, over and over again. Each time he fell, Growlithe whimpered even louder than the last time.

"Growlithe!" Blare shouted, worried deeply for her pokémon. She just didn't know what to do. Growlithe couldn't escape the aura. What blew her mind even more was that Sabrina wasn't even doing anything. She didn't say anything. She was just standing there. Alakazam was attacking all on its own free will.

Eventually the aura went away and Growlithe was on the floor and on his side. He was whimpering constantly in pain. Yet he weakly started to get up on his feet. The damage he took was severe though as his legs were shaking violently. He locked his eyes on Alakazam and growl, ready to keep going.

"Growlithe… um… use Bite on Alakazam!" Blare commanded, but not completely sure on her choice.

The little pokémon listened and started running toward the opponent. Yet Alakazam then crossed his spoons again and shot the multicolor blast once more.

"Growlithe, stopped the attack and use Protect again!" Blare quickly spoke. Growlithe stopped running and started creating the force field, but he suddenly coughed again. This time when he did, a bit of smoke came out of his mouth. Blare noticed this, yet she shouldn't have as it distracted her. The blast then hit Growlithe head on.

The force from the blast made Growlithe fly back. He howled in pure agony from how much damage he took. He kept flying and even passed by Blare. He didn't stop until slammed onto the doors. He the slowly fell until he hit the floor, not moving.

"Growlithe!" Blare screamed, horrified at the sight. She ran over to him and quickly picked him up, holding him like a baby.

"The battle is over." Sabrina suddenly spoke. "You can come back if you wish try again."

Before Blare could turn to Sabrina, the bright light from before suddenly surrounded her. She shut her eyes tight and tried to get through how bright it was. It didn't last long. When it went away, she was no longer in the gym. Instead Blare was surprised to see she was outside standing in front of the pokémon center.

Sabrina and Alakazam were nowhere to be seen.

* * *

The nurse took Growlithe straight to the emergency room. The machines were flashing all over, examinations were begging done. Growlithe was on a table with his eyes closed, breathing slowly.

Blare wasn't allowed in the operating room. She stood outside of it, looking through a window and watching from there. She felt helpless.

She couldn't understand what happened. There she was in front of the gym leader, facing her. And in less than two minutes Growlithe was in a condition she never though was possible for him to get into. Just then the nurse walked out and went to her.

"Nurse Joy, is Growlithe okay?" Blare asked, deeply worried.

"He's going to be just fine." The nurse began. "He just needs a goodnight's rest. Though… you're very lucky. It could have been worse if you got here later. How did Growlithe get into this condition?"

"I went to the Saffron gym." Blare answered.

Nurse Joy nodded. "That's explains it. I thought Growlithe's condition looked familiar." She looked through the window at Growlithe sleeping. "Most of the trainers that come to this city come to challenge the gym." The nurse explained. "They usually end up the same way Growlithe has."

Blare looked at Growlithe again herself. "The gym leader… Sabrina… when were battling… she didn't say anything… she was just standing there while her pokémon was attacking on its own." She spoke.

"She's psychic." Said Nurse Joy.

Blare looked at Joy again. "Psychic?" She asked.

Nurse Joy nodded and explained. "Sabrina's psychic. She has the ability to use her mind in a way most people can't… she can rise things, lower things, bend them, all by just concentrating and not having to touch them."

"When I went to the gym, there was a moment I was standing in the hallway and then the next; I was in a room with her. And after the battle I suddenly appeared here… is that part of it?" Blare asked.

Nurse Joy nodded again. "Yes, that's teleporting. And you're not the first trainer to ask me this. Almost all the trainers ask. They freak out when battling her because they think she just standing there, but what they don't know is that she's controlling her pokémon the whole time." She said.

"But how? How is she doing it?" Blare asked.

"Telepathically." The nurse answered. "She uses psychic type pokémon. Their minds are just her's. When she's battling, she communicates with them by thought… that's what causes the most trainer's to lose to her. Because she's not saying the moves out loud… they don't know what's going to happen or what to do." With that, the nurse walked away.

Blare looked at Growlithe for a few more seconds before remembering something. "Wait, Nurse Joy." She said. Nurse joy stopped walking and blare caught up to her. "Before Growlithe and I went to the gym, he started coughing. And when we were battling Sabrina, he coughed again. But this time, a little bit of smoke had came out of his mouth."

Nurse Joy smiled. "Oh he did!" Her tone sounded thrilled. "Oh that's really a wonderful thing for a fire types."

Blare blinked twice. "It is? Really?"

Nurse Joy nodded. "It sure is. When a fire type is about to learn its first fire based move, the body prepares for it to happen. That way it could learn other moves to." She paused and placed her hand on Blare's shoulder, a sign of reassuring. "It really is a good thing. The fact that you saw smoke means it won't be long." She then continued walking.

Blare stood there for a second before going back to the window and watching Growlithe again. She was happy. Not only was he going to be okay, but he was getting ready to learn a new move.

* * *

The next day came and Blare had stayed in one of the rooms at the center. After brushing her teeth and getting dressed, she dashed downstairs and ran over to the emergency room. The first thing she saw Growlithe walking alongside Nurse Joy. The moment her saw her, Growlithe ran up to her and jumped. Blare caught him and hugged him tightly.

"Oh Growlithe, I'm so glad you're okay." Said Blare. Growilthe barked and began to lick her face, making her giggle… though the moment was short lived.

"Hey redhead!" Shouted a voice.

Blare turned around and blinked twice. Standing a few feet away were the two stuck-up girls from yesterday. "Oh… it's you two." Blare said, not caring.

"You two my butt!" The brunette shouted, pointing at Blare.

"I have a bone to pick with you!" The blonde shouted, also point at Blare. "You had some nerve yesterday trying to out show us!" She added.

Blare tiled her head. "Out show you guy on what?" She asked.

"Out showing us on…" The brunette started, but slowed down. "Um… on um… well… I can't think of anything at the moment… But there's something!"

"Look! I want a rematch for yesterday's battle right now! I wasn't completely ready before, but now I am!" The blonde said, stomping her feet like a three year old having a tantrum. "And I want the rematch now! Not later! Not Tomorrow! Now!"

Blare looked down at Growlithe and he nodded. She then looked back at the girl's. "Alright then. Let's battle."

They all went to the back to the field. This time there were some other trainers out there. Some were battling, others were just watching. The only battle field that was free was the one on the right end, so Blare, Growlithe and the girl took that one. They took their sides and began to battle.

"Alright then!" The Blond said as she threw the pokeball. "Go!"

Out came the pokémon, but it didn't look like the one from before. It was large. The body was blue and had stubby arms and feet. The eyes seemed closed and its lips were full. On top of it, it had a large bumpy bud and withering grass under that. "Gloom!" It spoke out.

"Gloom hu." Blare said, taking out the pokedex.

"_**Gloom, the Weed Pokémon and the evolved form of Oddish**_

_**Gloom releases a foul fragrance from the pistil of its flower. When faced with danger, the stench worsens. If this Pokémon is feeling calm and secure, it does not release its usual stinky aroma."**_

"So." Blare began. "It looks like Oddish evolved into a Gloom." She looked at Growlithe. "You ready to battle little guy?" Growlithe barked his readiness and then Blare looked back at the blond girl. "Ready whenever you're are."

"Don't tell me what to do!" Shouted the blond girl. "Gloom use Petal Dance!" Gloom jump and began to spin. A spiraling wave of pink petals went straight for Growlithe.

"Protect." Blare said calmly. Growlithe to his stance and the force field came up. The Petal Dance hit the shield and scattered everywhere, creating a beautiful scene and leaving the fire type unharmed.

"Darn it! Gloom use Bullet Seed!" The blond ordered, stomping around.

Gloom landed from the Petal Dance and started to shoot the seeds.

"Dodge it and run." Blare ordered. Growlithe jumped right when the seeds reached him and started running towards Gloom. "Use Bite." Blare then commanded. The fire type showed its fangs ready to bite down on the opponent.

"Oh no you don't!" The blond said. "Gloom quick use Sweet Scent!"

Gloom began to shiver, causing a pink mist to leak out of its bud. It surrounded Growlithe and it caused him to stop.

I smirk appeared on the blond girl's face. "Ha! I knew that mutt wouldn't able to resist my Gloom's Sweet Scent." Yet her smile was turned to shock when she saw Growlithe coughing hysterically and smoke was coming out a bit. "W-what?"

Blare shrugged. "Yea, Growlithe's kind of going through something."

This seemed to piss off the blond girl. "H-how dare that mutt do that!? He should be lost in the sweet smell, not coughing in disgust! Gloom, use Patel Dance!"

Gloom span and the petals swirled towards Growlithe. He was still coughing and didn't have time to move. The attack hit him head on and he went flying back.

"Growlithe." Blare spoke, now sounding a bit concerned. "Stop yourself!" Growlithe stomped his feet on the ground and slowed down little by little until he stopped completely.

Suddenly Growlithe growled at Gloom and swung his body back. When he swung forward, he opened his mouth and out of it came tiny balls of fire.

The tiny balls of fire hit Gloom and it cried out in pain, showing the hit was super effective. It fell on its back and struggled to get up.

Blare smiled at what just happened. Growlithe had learned a new move, Ember.

"Oh come on! Gloom get up, get up!" The blond shouted, jumping in a fit. Eventually, Gloom was able to roll itself up. "Now use Bullet Seed!" Gloom started spitting out the seeds.

"Now Growlithe, counter it with Ember!" Blare commanded with pride. Growltihe opened his mouth to do it again. Yet when he did, nothing came out. Confusion quickly showed on their faces. The Bullet Seed hit Growlithe.

He shook it off easily. Grass type moves weren't that affective on fire types.

"Use Bullet Seed again!" The Blond commanded. Once more Gloom started shooting the seeds.

"Dodge it and get close!" Blare commanded, sound on guard. Growlithe jumped out of the way of the attack and quickly made his way towards Gloom. "Now use Bite!" Blare added. Growlithe bit down on Gloom's bud, and the pokémon cried out in pain.

"Gloom, shake that mutt off!" The blond shouted. Yet Gloom wasn't abled as Growlithe bit harder. He soon did let go and threw it back. It was heavier then when it was an Oddish, so it didn't fly that far.

"Okay, let's try it again! Growlithe use Ember!" Blare commanded.

Growlithe swung his head back and then swung forward. This time it worked. Dozens of small balls of fire spat out and his mouth and struck Gloom hard. With that, Gloom had fainted and was unable to battle.

The blonde's mouth drop as she returned Gloom into its ball. The brunette though, sighed and didn't seem that surprised by the outcome.

Growlithe walked up to Blare, waging his tail. Blare looked at him for a moment and then back at the girls. "I guess that's it hu." She said to them.

The blond girl suddenly screamed in anger and ran off like before. Her brunette friend ran after her.

It was then that Blare heard people cheering and looked around. She didn't realize that there were trainers watching her battle until now. She smiled and took in all the glory.

Though it didn't last long as she then thought of Growlithe's new Ember attack. And why it didn't work for a moment.

**=End of Chapter Six=**


	7. Chapter 7

**=Chapter Seven: The Blazing Arts =**

Saffron City, The Shining Big City and Blare's first stop in her travels.

After arriving on her second day, Blare ended up battling a resident with a stuck up attitude and easily won her first victory. Sadly that victory was short lived when she faced the main reason for coming to this city. Sabrina, the Saffron gym leader.

In the blink of an eye Blare and Growlithe were defeated by Sabrina and Alakazam's psychic abilities, not even standing a chance.

On the second day in the city, she faced the stuck up residence once more and again won a victory for herself and a new move, Ember, for Growlithe. And now Blare's journey to become a master of fire types continues…

* * *

The two stood in front of the Saffron Gym once more, but this time instead of going inside, they were stopped by large sign in front of the door. It had just four simple words, **"closed for the day."**

Blare sighed and spoke. "I'm both upset and trilled." She then looked at Growlithe. "I was really hoping we could have a rematch with her, but now that I see this I'm glad. I don't want you to end up like yesterday Growlithe."

Growlithe looked at the floor, unsure how to react to this news.

"Stop you two!" Two voices suddenly shouted in unison.

Blare and Growlithe turned around and they both jumped in panic. Two Mankey jumped at them from out of nowhere and seemed angry. Blare quickly reacted. "What the heck!? Growlithe, quick use Roar now!"

Growlithe roared out and the sound hit the Mankey. They freaked at the sound and run off to two boys down the steps. They stayed behind them, shivering in fear from Roar's affect.

The boys sighed and looked first at each other. They then looked at Blare and the moment they did, their eyes widened and their mouths watched. Blare and Growlithe walked down to them until she was right in front of them.

"I'm guessing these Mankey belong to you too?" She asked, keeping an eye on the Mankey.

The two boys looked baffled and were only able to nod. Blare then noticed they were twins. They looked almost the same. They had the same buzzed brown hair, the same black eyes, the same tan skin and even the same karate outfit, which Blare questioned why they had it on.

The only thing that made them different was that one had a band aid on his face and one did not.

Their silent treatment was starting to freak out Blare. "Um…" She started. "I guess I'll be going then." She and Growlithe were about to start walking.

"No wait!" The twins shouted in unison. Blare and Growlithe flinched at the sudden sound and stopped.

"Sorry that Mankey were about to attack you and your Growlithe. My brother and I were trying to train them, but they got confused and ran off." Spoke the boy with the band aid on his face.

"Yea, it's true." The other one said. "We did didn't mean to cause you any harm."

"It's alright, I believe you two." Blare spoke. She then looked at the two Mankey again. "Just… keep an eye on them."

"My name is Lee." Spoke the one with the band aid.

"And my name is Leo." Spoke then other one.

Blare raised a brow. "Um… nice to meet you two… my name is Blare."

"Blare." The twins sighed is unison, their faces slowly turning red.

Blare took a step back. "Okay that unison thing is kind of creepy." She looked at their outfits. "If it's not a bother, why are you two dressed like that." She asked.

"We're students at Saffron fighting dojo." Explained Leo. "We have to dress like whenever we go there."

Blare tilted her head and blinked twice. "Fighting Dojo?" She then remembered Terro mentioning it at one point. "Oh yea, I heard this place had a dojo… so you guys going over there now?"

"Yea! You want to come!?" Lee asked, sounding excited. Blue was about to say something, but the twins suddenly grabbed her by the arms and began to pull her. They moved quickly and made their way through the streets. Growlithe and the Mankey quickly followed.

* * *

Because of the twin not stopping once, the three and their pokémon got to the dojo in less than ten minutes. Once in front of it, the twins let go of Blare's arms.

"Okay, this is it." Lee spoke.

Blare looked at the dojo. It didn't seem like much. It was large building, but seemed to only have one floor. The walls were made out of wood and the roof was old fashion. It was blue and put together piece by piece. Besides that there was nothing else to it.

The twins and the Mankey started making their way inside. Blare looked Growlithe for a moment. Since the gym was closed, they didn't have anything else planned for the day. So they followed them.

Inside, they stood in a large, almost empty room. The floors were wood, just like the walls. And sitting on the wood a few feet away, was a man sitting, dressed like the twins, with his eyes closed.

They all walked up to the man, who didn't seem to notice them. When they were a foot apart, the twins suddenly got on their knees and bowed at the man. The Mankey quickly did the same thing.

"You two are late." The man then spoke.

"We apologize for out lateness Master Kiyo, forgive us." The twins replied together.

"And who is this girl?" The man asked as he opened his eyes to look at her. "She is not a student here."

"Master this is Blare." Lee began. "She was going to challenge the Saffron gym, but it was closed." The moment Lee spoke of the gym, it seemed to have struck a nerve in the master.

"We brought her here because she wanted to see the dojo." Leo added.

"Actually, I was dragged here." Blare spoke, but it seemed no one had heard her.

The master stood up and walked past the twins. He stopped in front of Blare and looked down at her before speaking. "So, you were planning to challenge the gym? You must be well experienced if you're trying to earn a badge from there." He crossed arms, his hands gripping tightly.

"Oh I'm not going for a badge." Blare replied. "I just wanted to challenge her again."

Master Kiyo raised a brow. "Again? You've challenged her before?"

Blare nodded. "Yea, I went against her yesterday… but it didn't turn out so well."

"I would bet…" The master's grip became even tighter on his muscles. "I can't stand that gym." He turned to the twins, who were still on their knees and bowing. "Lee! Leo! Stand!" He commanded. And the twins did what he said. They turned to him.

"Yes master." They spoke.

"Make tea. We have a guest." He spoke to them and without thinking it over; the twins left the room and went to another, with the Mankey following. Kiyo then looked at Blare again. "Why don't you take a seat?"

Being polite, Blare sat down the floor and Growlithe laid next to her. Kiyo took a step back for space and sat down after. "So then Blare. How long have you been traveling? He asked her.

"Today makes three days." Blare answered him.

The master nodded. "So you're still new then. Tell me, is that Growlithe you're only Pokémon? Or do you have others?"

"No, Growlithe's the only one I have." Blare replied giving Growlithe a quick pet.

"Oh… I'm afraid Growlithe isn't a good matchup against Sabrina and her Pokémon… at least in the state it's in now… but I guess you kind of noticed that from your last battle with her." Spoke the master.

Suddenly they heard something brake in other room. "Sorry master!" The twins called out.

Kiyo sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I don't even want to know what they broke this time."

Blare raised a brow. "If it's not too much trouble asking, are Lee and Leo your only students? I don't see anyone else here."

Kiyo smiled at her. "No, I have other, but I gave them the day off." He then let out a small sigh. "The twins had it off to, but they were so fussy about coming in today. They're the youngest from my students and don't get me wrong, they're very dedicated to their teachings. It's just that they're so… destructive." He heard something else shatter and let out another sigh.

"So since you're the master of this dojo, I guess that mean you teaches stuff karate or something?" Blare asked.

Kiyo chuckled. "Yes, something like. Though I also teach my students how to bond with fighting types. This dojo thrives on the understanding of that. Before I even allow a person to become a student of mine, they've had to at least catch a fighting type Pokémon beforehand." His smiled then slowly went away. "Of course I use to do something else… but things change with time."

The Twins and the Mankey soon came back with a too pot of tea, several cups and some snacks. They placed it between the master and Blare before sitting down themselves. Though the twins were sitting strangely close to Blare.

As the master poured the tea, Blare tried her best not to look at the twins, who, from noticing in the corners of her eyes, where looking directly at her. Even their Mankey was giving them a confused look as to why.

"So what are planning to do after you leave this city?" Kiyo asked as he passed her a cup.

"I actually haven't thought about it yet. I wasn't even thinking about be being here more than a day, but still I'm here." Answered Blare.

"Saffron City sits in the center of four different places." Kiyo spoke as he poured tea in another cup. "The only way to get here is by going through one of them. What city did you walked through to get here?"

"Well I'm from Celadon City, so I made my way from there." Blare answered before sipping some tea.

"Then you have three other ways to go." The master began. "One way you can go is Route 5. It's not that far from the dojo. There's also Route 6, but you'll have to go to the other end of the city to go through there."

"There's Route 8 too." Leo added.

"That's at the east of the city." Lee spoke.

Blare was surprised that there were so many routes to this city and out. Though she would like to know. "Do you know where each of them lead to."

All three guys shook their heads.

"I don't think it matters though. Kanto's a big region, but I think you'll see everything." The master assured Blare.

As everybody was drinking tea and the pokémon made their way into the snacks, Blare was reaching a breaking point with the twins' stares. She was about to crack and make a fit. What made it worse was that they quickly ran out of tea and this time the Kiyo had gotten up to get more.

To move things along, she started up a conversation with them. "So um… how long have you two been students here?" She asked them.

"Almost a month now." Answered Leo. "It's tough, but worth it."

"If we're able to get through all his training, we'll be considered fighting masters." Lee added, excited about that idea.

"Well how long does it take?" Blare asked them.

Leo shrugged. "It depends on the student."

Lee nodded, agreeing with his brother. "I've hear the youngest to master was nineteen and he had started at fifteen. And the oldest was at twenty-five and he started around fourteen. That guy left right before we joined the dojo."

"Wait, but Master Kiyo doesn't look that old. How could have been around for all that time. He must have been really young." Blare spoke, a bit surprised.

"Oh no, his father originally owned the dojo, but passed it down to Master Kiyo when he turned eighteen. He owned this place for almost six years now… of course, I heard he was at his best as a Master in the first two years before it happened." Lee said.

Blare tilted her head in curiosity. "Before what happened?" She asked.

Leo sighed. "The Saffron Gym showed up."

Lee explained. "Before the Saffron gym was this city's gym, this dojo was the gym. Master Kiyo's father was the gym leader and he made it almost impossible for trainers to win a badge because of his powerful fighting type pokémon."

Leo continued. "When his father gave it to him, he became the leader. His father even gave him the pokémon he used for the gym battles."

"So what happened?" Blare asked.

"Well." Leo started. "Like Lee said he was doing great the first two years. He was taking in student and taking out trainers… but then word got out that another gym opened up."

Lee continued on. "It was inspected and it end up becoming an official gym, but it turns out only one gym can be in a city or town at a time… so the only way to see which one would stay a gym was for both gym leaders to battle."

"Fighting types are super weak against psychic types. So Sabrina easily defeated Master Kiyo… he stayed with the dojo, but I heard he took the loss hard." Leo finished.

Blare was surprised. She had no idea of this ever happening. She's lived in Celadon City for several years now and even though it's next to Saffron, she never knew of this happening. Besides that, she had no clue that Gyms worked a specific way. She felt bad for the master. And it then gave her a spontaneous idea.

The master then returned with a hot pot of tea.

The moment he sat down, Blare stood right up. They all looked up at her, confused as to why she had gotten up.

"Master Kiyo, I wish to have a battle with you." Blare suddenly let out.

The twins' eyes widened in surprise, but Kiyo didn't seem fazed. He simply placed the pot down and stood right back up. "Okay." He said just like that.

* * *

They stayed in the same room, but moved back to walls for the most space in the center. Growlithe stayed in the center and seemed ready for whatever was about to happen.

The twins, being the only one there beside Kiyo and Blare there, were the referees. "This will be a one on one battle!" They spoke in unison.

"Between the challenger, Blare!" Spoke Leo.

"And the dojo master, Kiyo!" Spoke Lee.

They spoke in unison again. "The battle will be over when one's pokémon is unable to battle! No time limit! Let the battle begin!"

"Go! Hitmonchan!" Kiyo said as he threw the pokeball to the field.

Out came a human shape pokémon in brown and purple colors. His arms and legs were seemly thin, but still there were muscles. His hands were large in red. They were in the shape of boxing gloves.

Blare took out the pokedex…

"_**Hitmonchan, the Punching Pokémon. **_

_**A Hitmonchan is said to possess the spirit of a boxer who had been working towards a world championship. This Pokémon has an indomitable spirit and will never give up in the face of adversity**__**."**_

Growlithe growled at his opponent. And Hitmonchan grinned at sight of Growlithe, ready for the challenge.

"Ladies first." Kiyo spoke.

"Alright then. Growlithe, use Ember!" Blare commanded.

Growlithe began to spit out the balls of fires at the opponent seemed like it was about it.

"Hitmonchan, use Ice Punch!" Shouted Kiyo.

Hitmonchan swung his right arm and as he did, ice particles swirled on his fist. The Ember hit his fist, causing a small amount of steam to appear rapidly and going up in the air. It blocked the entire Ember attack.

Again, Hitmonchan smirked at Growlithe.

"Now Hitmonchan, use Mach Punch!" Kiyo commanded. Hitmonchan suddenly shocked Blare and Growlithe as he ran forward in such a tremendous speed with his left arm and fist back. Before anything can be done, Growlithe was struck by the fist. The pressure was enough to move Growlithe from his place, but not enough to leave the floor.

The fire type used his body to slow down the push until he completely stopped. His first instinct was to run forward soon after.

"Mach Punch again!" Kiyo commanded. Hitmonchan ran toward the little fire type with his left fist back.

"Growlithe, use Bite!" Commanded Blare.

Hitmonchan swung at Growlithe when he was close enough, but Growlithe jumped up at the last moment. The punch hit the ground and Growlithe landed on top of the fist. He ran up Hitmonchan's arm and bite down on his shoulder. Though since Bite was a dark type move, it was barely affective against the fighting type.

Hitmonchan began to swing his arm around, causing Growlithe's body to swing around.

"Hitmonchan! Try to get him off!" Kiyo commanded.

"Growlithe! Try to hold on!" Blare commanded.

As the Twins watched the battle, they had begun a side conversation. "I feel so conflicted Lee." Leo said.

"Me too brother." Replied Lee. "I mean I want the master to win… but I also want Blare to win too." His face turned red when he looked at Blare.

"Yea, me too." Leo said, his face also turning red when he saw Blare.

Eventually, Hitmonchan swung him arm hard enough to make Growlithe lose his grip and the fire type when summersaulting up in the air. "Now Hitmonchan, use Sky Uppercut!" Kiyo ordered.

Hitmonchan's right fist turned light blue and jumped up at Growlithe.

"Growlithe!" Blare called out. "Straighten yourself and use Protect!"

Growlithe stopped himself from summersaulting and was facing down, seeing Hitmonchan growing closer to him in the air. Since he wasn't on the ground, the force field appeared around him as a sphere.

Hitmonchan's Sky Uppercut stuck Growlithe's Protect, causing a large dong sound to be made. Yet it caused the force field to push back and that meant Growlithe as well. He hit the ceiling and the force field shatter on impact, letting the fire type fall.

"Growlithe, use Ember to soften your landing!" Blare shouted.

Growlithe opened his mouth to shot out the fire, but to their surprise, like their last battle, nothing came out. And Growlithe was still falling.

"Hitmonchan, use Mach Punch now!" Kiyo ordered.

Hitmonchan aimed down and went with speed and with his fist forward. It struck Growlithe on his back, causing him to plummet faster down. When he hit the floor, a cloud of smoke quickly burst out.

Blare quickly grew worried for Growlithe's safety. The smoke soon cleared as she saw Growlithe standing, but he legs were shaking. Hitmonchan had landed afterwards and again he grinned at Growlithe.

Blare took a quick look at Kiyo. She could see why he was a gym leader at one point.

She then thought about Growlithe's Ember. This was the second time it didn't work and she didn't know why. Though she had to push the though aside and focused back on the battle.

"Hitmonchan use Mach Punch!" Kiyo commanded. Once more Hitmonchan ran with amazing speed.

"Quick Growlithe, use Protect!" Blare shouted out, but something shocking happened... it didn't happen. Growlithe stood there in his stance, but the shield didn't appear. The Mach Punch struck him. He was pushed back and because he legs were shaking, he fell for a second.

"Growlithe, are you okay?" Blare asked, worried. "We can stop if you want."

Growlithe got back up, shook his head, and ran towards Hitmonchan.

"I have to say Blare; I have great respect for you Growlithe and his fiery spirit." Said Kyio. "Hitmonchan, let's humor them by using Fire Punch!" Hitmonchan's left fist blazed with fire and he swung, striking Growlithe when we was close enough.

Because the move was the same type as Growlithe, it didn't do much. He was pushed back, but still standing… then something happened that surprised everyone.

A red aura suddenly surrounded Growlithe's entire body and after a second, it began to sink into is body. Blare had no clue what this meant.

It was then that Growlithe locked his eyes on Hitmonchan and used Ember on his own, but is different, more powerful. The balls of fire seemed larger and were coming out faster.

"Hitmonchan, block it with Ice Punch!" Kiyo ordered.

The Ember was coming too fast. Before he could do anything, Hitmonchan was hit and it looked like he was taking in some serious damage. He was moved back and even fell on one knee. Though, before Blare could respond to the sight, Growlithe suddenly fell.

She ran over to her partner and quickly picked him up. From a closer look, Growlithe seemed to have just gotten tired from fighting. Blare sighed in relief.

"I guess the battle is over." Kiyo spoke, sending Hitmonchan back into his ball.

"Yea, looks like it." Answered Blare.

"I have to admit, Flash Fire caught me off guard at the end." Kiyo said, walking up to Blare.

"Flash Fire?" Blare questions.

Kiyo nodded and explained. "Flash Fire is an ability a few fire types have. When they're hit by a fire type move, instead of taking damage, their body absorbs it. And when they attack with a fire type move themselves, the move is now stronger because they had absorbed the energy from the opponents move."

"Really?" Blare asked surprise. She looked down at Growlithe and couldn't believe he had an ability like that, but she couldn't be too thrilled as she thought about what happened in the battle. "That's great and all, but I just don't understand what happened with Ember. This is the second time it didn't work at one point. And his Protect, it's never failed before."

"Well, Protect is a move that has less of a chance working if you use it too many times in a row. And as for Ember… well… how long has Growlithe known how to use Ember?" Kiyo asked.

"Honestly, only a few hours." Answered Blare.

Kiyo nodded. "Well there's your reason. The move is still new to Growlithe. So until you two work through it, it won't always work out when you want it to."

Blare nodded, understanding. She looked at Growlithe again and then sent him into his ball. "Well, thanks for the battle."

Kiyo smiled. "My pleasure. I really had a good time… so what are you going to do now?" He asked.

"Well I've to take Growlithe to the center. Though I'm still not sure after that… I think I'm not going to challenge Sabrina when she comes back… I'm starting to see that I'm definitely not ready to face some that strong…" Blare then paused, realizing what she said. "Not that, I'm saying you aren't strong! Obviously you were a challenge, but not like I was at the same level as you or… you know what, I'll just stop talking now."

Kiyo chuckled. "It's okay, I understand. I guess you'll be going then."

Blare nodded. "Yea, the sooner I get to the center, the better it is for Growlithe."

"I'll go with you!" Lee suddenly spoke.

"I'll go too… you know for protection." Leo added.

They started running toward Blare, but the master then grabbed them by the shoulders, stopping them. "Oh no you don't. You two insisted coming in today. We have a lot to go through." Kiyo spoke.

The twins looked at him and whined.

Blare chuckled a bit and waved at them before turning around and making her way out the dojo…

**=End of Chapter Seven=**

* * *

**Hello readers, this is the author speaking…**

Hopefully you've all been enjoying the story. I'm writing this because I want you all to understand the point of this chapter. It was meant to move the story along, but also shed some light on information not spoken about often.

The main location was the dojo in this chapter. We all know about it being in Saffron City. The reason I wanted to use it was because the story of the dojo being once a gym is actually true when it comes to the games. I don't hear about it that often, so I decided to bring it up.

The main reason for this chapter was also to explore more of Growlithe and Blare's battling progress. Seeing how they battle now compared to chapter 2 and 3 and even learning about Growlithe's Flash Fire ability.

The final thing I wanted to show was the question that hasn't been brought up yet.

The question being that Kiyo brought up. "Is Growlithe you only pokémon? Or do you have others."

By now, most stories have the trainer already having more than one pokémon. I wanted to show how rare fire types are in the game.

**That's about it. I hope enjoyed the chapter and the battle. And I hope you review, thank you.**


	8. Chapter 8

**=Chapter Eight: The Fire of Eons=**

Route 5. It looked just like Route 7 in every way. Trees, tree, and even more trees.

Blare and Growlithe walked down a path that was connected to Saffron City. Out of all the routes that were around the city, they chose to go north.

Before leaving the city, Blare spent two more days in it training Growlithe and stocking up on anything they needed. The two had now been traveling for over a week. In that time, they've seen several different pokémon, been in countless battles and Growlithe even learned a new move along the way.

Though some things still haven't happened. Things most trainers would have gotten done since day one.

Like catching a pokémon.

Blare had her eyes on the ground. Her goal was to master fire types and that meant more than just one her team. A trainer can have up to six pokémon. Here she was with just Growlithe. Though she wasn't seeing that as an insult. She knew Growlithe was being his best, but Blare knew there were battles that needed more than one pokémon. And she couldn't keep going to a pokémon center so quickly.

The problem being that she hasn't seen another fire type the whole time. And in this rate, it wasn't like one was going to appear in front of her.

Just then, Growlithe stopped walking, causing Blare to the same. "Growlithe, what's wrong little guy?" She asked him. Blare looked him and his eyes were locked to something ahead. She moved her sight forwards and the second she did, her eyes widened is surprise.

Several feet away from them, no more than three yards, stood a pokémon.

It was about two, almost three feet tall. It stood on for legs like Growlithe. Its fur was a reddish orange. It had a large bushy tail and fluffy collar, both being yellow. It had a tuft of fur on the top of his head that was also yellow and sitting between its long ears. It shiny black eyes were looking right at Blare and Growlithe.

Blare didn't need to take out a pokedex to see what this pokémon was. She knew full well what it was. Because mastering fire types meant she had to be able tell one, when sees one.

It took her a moment to process the words. When she was able to, the last word took the longest to say. "It's a… Flareon."

The Flareon's ears almost went completely straight up. It then looked off towards the right and jumped.

Suddenly, a ball of water shot from the right and hit the spot Flareon was just on. The ground quickly soaked it up and Flareon landed inches away from the wet spot. The pokémon then ran left, into the trees.

A girl came out with two pokémon form the side the water had shot from. "Darn it!" The girl said. "We must have been too loud!" The girl noticed Blare and Growlithe, but only for a second. She put her focus to where the Flareon had run off. "Come on! We can't lose that Flareon!"

With that, the three ran into the trees. Blare stood there, trying to put together what just happened. One moment she was wondering if she was ever going to run into a fire and then the next, there it was.

Growlithe saw her in a daze and barked, quickly snapping her out of it. Blare looked at him for a moment and then the direction Flareon and that girl went. Before thinking it twice, she ran that direction with Growlithe by her side.

Within the trees, Blare could see the girl several feet ahead. Though that wasn't where her mind was mostly at. It was more on the Flareon. Blare didn't know why, but she could feel there was something special about it.

It wasn't long, before the girl had stopped running. She and her pokémon were crouching down behind a large bush. Blare and Growlithe slowed their steps when they were about three feet away from them. They were close enough to hear the girl talking and in her hand was a tape recorder.

"Day thirty, hour fourteen." The girl said. "Flareon continues to escape every attack that's been thrown. Also, she continues to grow and thrive in every new area she enters. Easily finding food and water almost the moment she enters the area."

Blare tilted her head in curiosity. "Day thirty? Have you been following that Flareon for a month?" She asked the girl.

The girl jumped at the sound of Blare's voice and turned to look at her, surprised. Her pokémon saw her and turned, growling at Blare as a line of defense. Growlithe took this as a threat and did the same thing back at them.

The girl began to panic and looked behind for a moment, before looking back to everyone else and shushing the pokémon to be quiet.

"Eevee! Vaporeon! Stop it!" Her voice was a shushed tone. The girl then looked at Blare. "Tell you Growlithe to stop!"

Blare quickly looked at Growlithe and he got the hint right away, stopping instantly.

The girl pointed at the ground, signaling she wanted Blare to crouch down. Blare right away did. She moved a little closer and saw what was on the other side of the bush.

Flareon was eating an oran berry and was sitting near a tree filled with them. She didn't seem to notice the others.

Blare then took look at the girl. She had glasses on and her hair was a short shiny brown. The look on her face showed she had missed at least a day of sleeping, but also showed determination.

Suddenly, Vaporeon sneezed. This sudden action caused everyone to look at the pokémon. The moment they looked back, Flareon was gone. The girl sighed right away. "Great." She said. "Off to look for her again." With that, the girl got up. "Come on, Eevee, Vaporeon, let's look for that Flareon." The three began walking.

Blare quickly got up and run up to the girl. "Wait!" She said, making the girl do just that. "You um… never answered my question. Have you really been following that Flareon for a month?"

The girl nodded. "Yep, pretty much. Give or take a day." She started walking again and Blare followed, with Growlithe catching up.

"I'm Blare, by the way." Blare spoke.

"Wesley." The girl answered back.

Blare looked at Wesley's pokémon and had a feeling she may know about them, but took out her pokedex. First looking up the brown one and then at the blue one…

"_**Eevee, the Evolution Pokémon.**_

_**A rare Pokémon that adapts to harsh environments by taking on different evolutionary forms. It is unknown exactly how many forms it can take."**_

…

"_**Vaporeon, the Bubble Jet Pokémon and one of the evolved forms of Eevee.**_

_**Its body's cellular structure is similar to the molecular composition of water. It can melt invisibly in water."**_

Blare took another look at the brown one again, the Eevee. "Wait." She said. "Eevee? Isn't that the pokémon that can evolve into like three different forms?"

"Several." Wesley said. "It's was three at one point, but now there're several forms."

"Really? How many?" Blare asked.

"I don't like to think of the number. A number is always given and then they find out Eevee has another form. The number changes soon after." Wesley said, her eyes never looking anywhere else, but ahead.

"Oh… so why have been following the Flareon?" Blare continued to ask.

"To catch it. It's a special one. I've been following it for so long; I know everything about it already." Wesley began. "I've learned every move it knows. Tackle, Sand Attack, Bite, and Fire Spin. I've learned from the way it moves and acts that it's a girl. That alone is rare. It's almost impossible to find an Eevee or any of its evolved forms as a female."

Blare felt a knot in her stomach form when Wesley said she was trying to catch the Flareon. She tried not to think about it, by continuing the conversation. "So has it really been so hard to defeat?"

"It is." Wesley replied. "You know I don't mean to be rude or anything, but why are you following me?"

"Hm…oh." Blare said, stopping. "I didn't realize. Sorry, I'll just be going then… nice meeting you." She was just about to walk off when something jumped out of the bushes and tackled Growlithe.

He went flying but stopped himself my stomping his feet onto the ground. He then started to growl on the defensive.

Before Blare could see what had attack him, it jumped back in the bushes. "What the heck was that?" She asked, looking around to see if she could find it.

"Flareon." Wesley replied, looking around. "I should have known that would happen. When she knows she's being followed, she starts to mess around… looks like she saw us back there. Sorry, but Flareon is not going to leave you alone now. Not until she sure, you can't get to here."

Spiraling fire then came out from passed the trees. It was coming towards Blare from the back. She heard it coming and was about to do her best to get out the way.

"Vaporeon, Water Pulse!" Wesley commanded. Vaporeon shot a large ball of water right at the spiraling fire. The contact caused steam to rapidly surrounded them, messing with their vision.

"Growlithe!? Growlithe, where are you!?" Blare called out. She heard him bark, but couldn't tell where it was coming from. She started walking carefully forwards, trying to see if she could find her way through the steam.

It wasn't long before a dark silhouette appeared in her vision within the steam. She couldn't really tell who it was, so she moved closer. Whoever it was seemed to have picked up on her movement. They seemed to get farther and farther from her with every step she took.

It didn't seem like the steam was going to let out anytime soon and it wasn't long before she heard Wesley's voice constantly. Blare heard her say things like, "Dodge!" and "Tackle!" and "Water Pulse!" Obviously she was fighting Flareon.

It was then that the silhouette appeared again. It was moving this time, almost impossible for Blare to keep her eyes on it. She stopped walking when a reddish orange light started to flicker on and off in the steam. At first Blare didn't know how to react to it, but she felt temperature rise around her. Her eyes quickly widened and before thinking it twice, Blare dropped herself to the ground.

The spiraling fire had shot from where the glowing light was and ran passed and above her. If it wasn't for her knowledge of fire type's and how they worked, she would have gotten hit.

The fire pushed the steam apart for a moment and just for a second; Blare could see the fire was coming from Flareon. "Quick, use Water Pulse!" Said Wesley's voice. Blare saw the ball of water rush and break through the steam and canceled out, only to create more steam.

It was then Blare realized she was in between Wesley and her Vaporeon and the Flareon.

Again Flareon shot out fire, Blare now seeing it was Fire Spin. Blare quickly got up and ran out of the way of the attack.

The steam was just getting thicker and thicker with each attack Vaporeon and Flareon threw out. It was spreading out far. Soon Blare was running and almost crashing into trees that would just appear into her view. She couldn't tell if she was running in a straight line or just in circles. Even the air was getting too warm to breathe right.

Blare then suddenly freaked and almost lost her balance when she stopped in her tracks. She was standing in front of a large oak tree, her sight was on one of the branches.

Flareon was standing on that branch, looking down at her.

Blare slowly began to walk back, but soon hit a root sticking out of the ground and fell back. Her eyes didn't leave the pokémon and before she could do anything else, Flareon used Fire Spin right at her.

Suddenly, Growlithe landed in front of her. His Protect went up faster than ever and blocked the Fire Spin, saving Blare from harm. He was growling, but it seemed different from his normal growls. It sounded more vicious, more angered. His body was even shaking harshly.

Growlithe then used Roar and it was the strongest Blare had ever seen. The volume was louder and the echo actually caused the steam to brake and move off, clearing the area around them.

The Roar hit Flareon and she lost her balance, causing her to fall off the branch yet somehow landed on her feet with no problem. She ran off instantly.

Blare heard footsteps from behind and turned to see Wesley and her pokémon walking towards her and Growlithe.

"You okay?" Wesley asked.

"Yea." Blare replied, getting herself up. "I'm fine… what's with that Flareon?"

"I told you, she makes sure no one's following her." Wesley started. "She's done that steam trick before. Purposely using Fire Spin, knowing the only way I could stop it was with Water Pulse." She then looked at Growlithe. "Well it was at least, I don't think she prepared for Growlithe's Protect and Roar."

Blare looked at Growlithe. He was still growling strangely and looking off at the direction Flareon had fled.

She looked Wesley again. "Dose Flareon always fight like that?" She asked.

Wesley nodded. "Yep. She's a fighter. From that, I'm guessing she's been in some tough situations or was once owned by a trainer."

"Why do you want to catch her? I mean, she's just so violent." Blare said.

"Blare, look at my pokemon. I have and Eevee and Vaporeon. I want to be and Eevee trainer. I want to catch and raise Eevee and all of its evolutions. They're rare and hard to find. If I find one of its evolutions, I'll take it. No matter how dangerous they are." Spoke Wesley. "I've followed that Flareon for a month. I've gone from route to route, city to city following it. I'm not going to stop now."

Growlithe then began to bark nonstop. Blare turned to him and saw he was doing it at her.

She got on her knees. "Growlithe, what's wrong?" She asked him.

The fire type seemed blinded anger, he just kept on barking. Blare tried to touch him, but she almost got bitten. "Growlithe what is wrong with you!?" Said Blare.

Wesley walked up to Growlithe and got on her knees as well. She studied him carefully, seeing the way his body was moving, the look on his eyes. It wasn't long before she came to a conclusion.

"I've never owned a Growlithe. But know people do." Wesley began. "Growlithes are very obedient pokemon. They'd do anything to protect their trainers. Growlithe's acting like this because you almost hot hurt. He wants to get back at Flareon."

Growlithe was now just growling. Blare looked at him for a few seconds and then at Wesley. "Do you really want that Flareon?" she asked.

Wesley simply nodded.

Blare was then able to place her hand on Growlithe's head and softly pet him. "Alright then… I'll help you with that."

* * *

The entire time they walked, Growlithe was sniffing the ground ahead of them, keeping up on Flareon's scent. The entire time he was growling. And while he did, Blare and Wesley talked.

"So… how can Eevee evolve into so many forms?" Blare asked.

"It's in Eevee's genetic code." Answered Wesley. "It allows Eevee to evolve depending on the situation. At first, most thought they can evolve by using a certain stone. Three actually. A fire stone, a water stone and a thunderstone."

"Stones?" Blare said curiously.

Wesley nodded. "Some pokémon don't evolve by battling and gaining experience. Some evolve by reacting to stones. Eevee is one of those pokémon. If you use a water stone, Eevee, who's a normal type, evolves into Vaporeon, a water type. Though if you expose it to a Fire Stone, then Eevee evolves into a Flareon, a fire type."

"I guess that would make sense… wait about the other stone?" Asked Blare.

"The thunderstone causes Eevee to evolve into a pokémon that is an electric type." Replied Wesley. "But like I said, that's what was first thought. After some time, scientists and Professors found out that Eevee can evolve by gaining experience in battle. Though there was a twist that involved time."

"Time?" Blare questioned. "How dose time work with it."

"It's kind of tricky." Wesley started. "Eevee was able to evolve into two more form and two more different types. If Eevee had gained enough experience and the sun was out, it evolved into one of those two forms. If the moon was out, in would become the other."

"Eevee can evolve just by the time of day? Well what are they?" Blare asked, fascinated.

Wesley shrugged. "I don't really know. I'm still learning about Eevee as I travel." She then looked at Growlithe ahead. "So are you going Growlithe? Or are you going to keep him like this?"

Blare began to think about it, the thought never really came to her before. "Growlithe's been great so far. I don't know how I would react if he evolved. I know an evolved pokémon is stronger and there are moves only they can learn, but I wouldn't want to evolve Growlithe for just those reasons."

"Well, the good thing it's your choice." Said Wesley.

"Oh and how's that?" Asked Blare.

"I told you. Some pokémon need a stone to evolve. Growlithe needs a fire stone to evolve." Wesley answered.

Blare suddenly stopped walking. "Wait… what?"

Wesley stopped walking soon after. "You didn't know? How long have you had Growlithe for?"

"A few months, but I didn't know that." Replied Blare.

"Well do you have a fire stone?" Wesley asked. Blare simply shook her head. "Well then you don't have to think about it right now."

Suddenly the smell of smoke it the girls. They looked ahead. Their pokémon were nowhere in sight, but what they did see a reddish orange light a few feet away. They knew what that was and they ran towards it.

When they got to it they saw Growlithe, Vaporeon and Eevee, fighting Flareon.

Eevee had used Tackle and so did Flareon, but with Flareon begin its evolved form, her tackle was much stronger and Eevee went flying back.

When Eevee hit the ground, Flareon landed shot Fire Spin at it. Growlithe quickly jumped in front of Eevee and used Protect, taking the hit of the fire. Vaporeon jumped over both Eevee and Growlithe and throw at Water Pulse.

Flareon stopped using Fire Spin and jumped out of the way before the Water Pulse could hit her.

The wild pokémon then landed and went straight for Growlithe, ready to use Tackle. "Growlithe, quick use Roar!" Blare command. The force field went down and Growlithe was ready to use the attack. Yet Flareon seemed ready for it this time. She stopped her attack when she was close enough and she turned her body around. As she did, her back feet scooped up dirt and it hit Growlithe in the face.

It was in his eyes and mouth. Growlithe began to shake his head and cough, trying getting the dirt off of him. Flearon turned to face him and used Tackle. Growlithe flew and landed only inches away from the girls.

"Eevee! Vaporeon! Use Quick Attack!" Wesley ordered.

Eevee had gotten up and Vaporeon was by its side. They both began run in an unbelievable speed right at Flareon, though she didn't seemed fazed. She didn't move from her spot.

When the two were close enough, Flareon used Fire Spin. The two were unable to stop because of the speed they were going. Vaporeon was a water type, so the attack barely left a scratch on it. Though Eevee wasn't as lucky.

Before anything else could happen, the flames stopped and Flareon was gone.

Wesley quickly sent Eevee into its ball and she walked up to Vaporeon. "You okay." She asked it. Vaporeon nodded.

Growlithe was able to get the dirt off. The moment he was able to see, he started growling angrily, looking for Flareon.

"Growlithe, calm down. Flareon is gone." Blare spoke, concerned for the fire type. Though Growlithe kept looking.

Suddenly, Blare felt something light hit her head. She looked up and saw the sky had turned gray. Before she knew it, it started to rain. The first thought that came to her was Growlithe and she quickly took out his ball and sent him in.

It started to rain fast and girls and Vaporeon began to run for cover.

* * *

It took some time, but they were able to find a small cave. They sat in there as the rain poured down.

At first, Blare just looked out at the rain, but then turned to look at Wesley, who was petting Vaporeon as she slept next to her. "So… how did you run into that Flareon?" She asked.

"It was back when I was leaving a place called Pewter City. I was right outside of it when I saw her standing on top of a large boulder, looking at a tree with one berry on it. I watched how easily she was able to jump, hit the trunk and fly up to the berry. She grabbed it with her mouth, before falling down and landing on her feet." Wesley explained. "She saw me for a moment before walking away. After that, I started trying to catch her."

"I know it's rare to find one, but that Flareon is a bit too much." Said Blare.

Wesley nodded. "Yea, but that's just the type." She said.

Blare gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?"

Wesley explained. "There are seventeen different types; all are different from the others. From traveling, I've seen that a pokémon act just like the type it is. Like my Eevee." She paused to take out Eevee's ball. "I've had Eevee since I started. It was my first pokémon. A normal type could be almost anything; they can learn almost any move of any type. So as were traveled together, Eevee kind of grew more into my personality."

"And Vaporeon?" Blare asked.

"Water types are just like water. They can be calm and peaceful or they could be strong and aggressive. When I ran into Vaporeon, he didn't try to stop me from catching him." Said Wesley.

"And fire is wild." Said Blare.

Wesley nodded. "Exactly. Flareon is just acting up to her type." She then sighed. "But at the rate things are going, I'm going to catch her soon. She moves fast and knows how to use her move… there has to be a way to stop her from attacking long enough to for us to actually get an attack in." She sighed one more time.

Blare heard the sigh, but there was something else to it. There was a sigh… then another… then another. It sounded like there was a small continuing cycle of sighs. She looked farther into came, realizing it was echoing Wesley's sigh.

It then came to her. She looked at Wesley. "I think I have an idea."

* * *

The rain stopped after about an hour and sun quickly broke through. Wesley and Vaporeon were walking through the forest. They were looking straight ahead, looking nowhere else.

Suddenly a Fire Spin shot from behind them.

"Water Pulse!" Wesley shouted.

Vaporeon turned at shot out the ball of water. The moves collided and created steam. Flareon jumped through the steam and looked for them, but didn't seem them at first. She then caught them by the corner of her eye and saw them running off. She quickly chased them down.

The two lead Flareon to the cave they hid from the rain. They ran inside and Flareon followed in. The two ran until they reached the end of the cave and turned to face Flareon.

The fire type slowly walked towards them, ready to attack them, when she heard footsteps from behind. She looked back.

Blare was standing in front of the cave's entrance and in front of her was Growlithe, growling with his eyes locked on Flareon. "Wesley now!" She shouted.

"Vaporeon use Water Pulse!" Wesley shouted.

Flareon looked at the attack and jumped back, dodging. Yet it wasn't the only attack coming. "Now Growlithe use Bite!"

Growlithe pounced fast and bit down on Flareon's tail. He then swung the pokémon to crash into a wall. Yet Flareon turned her body and her feet hit the cave's walls. She then pushed herself back and went at Growlithe with Tackle.

"Quick Attack!' Wesley ordered.

Vaporeon moved in great speed. He stuck Flareon on her side right when she was about hit Growlithe. She smashed into the rocky wall.

It wasn't enough to stop her. Flareon quickly got on her feet and ran at them. All while using Fire Spin.

"Vaporeon, jump out of the way!" Wesley commanded.

"Growlithe, jump into the fire!" Blare commanded. Wesley looked at her, surprised at her move.

Vaporeon quickly moved out of the way. Growlithe, on the other hand, ran right at the Fire Spin and jumped into the center. Before anything could happen, Flareon stopped her attack. Growlithe landed from his jump and his body was glowing red.

"Now Growlithe, use Ember." Blare ordered. The balls of fire shot from Growlithe's mouth and hit Flareon head on. She quickly lost the strength in her legs.

Wesley looked stunned. Blare was smirking. "Obviously a fire type move wouldn't do much on Flareon, but with Growlithe's Flash Fire ability, I was sure some damage could be done." She said. She then looked at Wesley. "Quick, while she's down."

Wesley nodded and took out an empty pokeball. She threw it and hoped a month of chasing would soon be over. Yet Flareon still had some fight in her. She used her tail swat the ball away and it fell and rolled to Blare's feet. Flareon then got up and ran at them with Tackle.

"Vaporeon, stop her with Water Pulse!" Vaporeon started to create the ball of water, but Flareon suddenly appeared faster than expected at struck the water type. Because Vaporeon wasn't on his guard, the damage he took was tremendous. He flew and smashed into the wall, crack marks had appeared.

Devastated at the sight, Wesley quickly ran over to her pokémon, who struggled to move. It seemed Flareon no longer knew Tackle and had used Quick Attack.

Blare looked at Flareon and saw she enraged. Before she knew it, Flareon used Quick Attack and was going for Wesley.

Panicking, Blare made her move fast. "Growlithe quick, use Roar at full blast!"

Growlithe roared as loud as he can. It hit Flareon and she stopped running instanstanly. The roar caused the weakened Vaporeon to return to his ball.

Normally the wild pokémon hit by Roar would run away the opposite direction. Yet they were in a cave. The Roar had pounced off the walls and was everywhere. There was no way to get away from it.

Flareon wasn't moving in the confusion.

Not taking any chances, Blare quickly grabbed to pokeball on the ground and threw her. It hit Flareon in the back and it opened. The red light surrounded her and sent her it. The ball then closed and fell to the ground.

Growlithe stopped using Roar at that moment and everything was silent.

The ball was shaking and the center was glowing red. It just kept going and going. It seemed like it was endless. At any second, Flareon could breakout.

And then… it stopped… Flareon was caught.

Blare walked over to the ball and picked it up. She then walked to Wesley and handed it over to her. "Well congrats; you're finally done chasing Flareon." She waited for Wesley to take it, but she just stood there, looking at the ball in Blare's hand.

Blare looked at her confused. "What's wrong?" She asked.

Wesley looked at her in the eyes. "Blare… I've been chasing Flareon for over a month and not once have I been able to catch her. Let alone land a single attack on her… you run into her and in less than a day, you outsmarted her and threw the ball that caught her… Blare you keep her."

Blare's eyes widened. "Wait, what? B-but Wesley, you've been so determined to have her. You even said it's rare to find an Eevee and its evolutions. What if you don't find another?"

Wesley giggled. "It's rare, not possible. It'll take some time, but I should find one… look Blare, the way you dealt with her shows me you can control her much better then I will. Trust me… take her." She then placed her hand on the ball and Blare's hand and pushed it closer to Blare.

Blare looked at the ball with the captured Flareon. She then looked again at Wesley and then back at the ball. It took a moment, but then she felt it. Her body charged up from the toes up. She did it, she caught a pokémon.

She started shrieking and soon after, started to jump up and down. Growlithe started barking and ran in circles. This was a victory for him as well.

Blare then raised the ball up in the air with pride. This was another step to Blare's goal. A second pokémon. Another fire type…

**=End of Chapter Eight=**


	9. Chapter 9

**=Chapter Nine: A Fired Up Challenge Part: I=**

After catching her new pokémon, Flareon, and saying goodbye to Wesley, an up and coming Eevee trainer, Blare, with her Growlithe, continued traveling through Kanto in hopes of becoming a fire type master. And it wasn't long until they reached a new destination.

Cerulean City, the Floral Lagoon City…

The place was absolutely different from the other Cities. One of the things Blare noticed right away was water. There was a large amount of it here. Not everywhere, but enough for it not to be missed. It gave the city that fresh water smell. Blare had to only breathe in once and she felt as if her body could do anything.

It was more open spaced compared to Saffron. It took no more than half an hour to find the pokémon center. And when she got there, Blare, even though it sounded silly, felt a bit excited handing the nurse two pokeballs instead of one. She even giggled when the nurse handed them back to her.

The first thing she did after getting them back was go to the open space in the back of the center. Blare held each pokeball in both her hands and pointed them forward. "Okay." She said. "Growlithe, Flareon, come on out."

The pokeballs opened and out came the fire types, sitting side by side

Blare got on one knee and pet Growlithe on the head before looking at Flareon. "So then." She began. "Flareon… Growlithe and I haven't given you a proper welcome yet… so… welcome to the team." Growlithe barked at Flareon happily, wagging his tail.

At first Flareon didn't respond. She looked at Blare, then at Growlithe, then at Blare again and then again at Growlithe. Finally, she politely nodded, taking the welcoming.

Blare couldn't help, but smile brightly as she looked at them. Growlithe, her starter and best friend. And Flareon, her first caught pokémon and an evolved one at that. She could only imagine what her next pokémon would be.

Just then Growlithe and Flareon's stomachs growled and a second later, so did Blare's. It was defiantly passed lunch.

They made their way to the center's cafeteria. There, Growlithe and Flareon chowed down on some pokémon food while Blare enjoyed a nice hot bowl of soup. As they ate, Blare quickly noticed how different the two fire types eating habits were. Growlithe was standing on all four, with his face buried in the food. He was scooping it up so fast; it was as if he's never eaten before. Flareon meanwhile, sat, took a small bite, chewed, took a small bite and stayed that way.

They may have been the same type, but they really were different in personality. Especially Flareon. When she was wild, she was aggressive and attacked right away. Now that she was caught, Flareon seemed like the most obedient pokémon there was.

Blare suddenly left her mind when she heard three boys having a conversation at the table next to her.

"I only got through the first three. The fourth trainer crushed my pokémon." The first boy said, letting out a sigh afterwards.

"At least you got to the fourth trainer." The second boy began. "I was only able to reach the second trainer." He shook his head. "Now that's embarrassing."

"Is the nugget bridge challenge really that hard?" The third person asked.

"It sure is." Answered the first boy. "I'm mean; facing all those trainers back to back is hard. Even with a prize."

Curiosity quickly filled her. "Excuse me." Blare said, getting the boys' attention. "What's this nugget bridge challenge?"

"You never heard of it?" The second boy asked, shocked. "You must be new."

The first boy explained. "The nugget bridge challenge is just that, a challenge. It's on the nugget bridge, a bridge north of this city. On that bridge you take on five trainers back to back."

The third boy continued. "You have to battle one right after the other and you can't turn back. If you turned back then you lose the challenge. Though, if you beat all five trainers, you win a prize."

"What's the prize?" Blare asked.

The second boy shrugged. "It's a mystery, but if you have to beat five trainers, it must be good. Plus it's good training for your pokémon."

With that, Blare looked at her pokémon. "Good training huh?"

* * *

After about two hours, Blare made her way north of the city. It wasn't hard finding the bridge. It was actually pretty large. She couldn't see the end of it from this point.

There was sign next to the bridge. It read, **"Nugget Bridge Challenge! Beat five trainers and win a prize!"** It was simple as that.

There was no one else around, so she just walked on to the bridge. The first few minutes, Blare was completely alone; the only thing to accompany her was the rushing fresh water under the bridge. Yet soon she saw a boy come into view. From how he was dressed in a large hat and sleeveless shirt, as well as hold on to net, Blare quickly put together that he was a bug catcher.

He was looking down at the water when he caught Blare in the corner of her eye. He turned to look at her. "Hi there." He said. "Are you here for the nugget bridge challenge?"

Blare nodded.

The boy then made his way to the middle of the bridge and stopped there to face her. "Okay then. I'm the first trainer! You want to continue on, you'll have to beat both my Pokémon!" He suddenly sounded serious. He took out a pokeball and threw it. "Go Caterpie!" He shouted.

Out came a small green worm pokémon that couldn't have been any more than a foot tall. Blare blinked twice at the sight and check it on her pokedex…

"_**Caterpie, the Worm Pokémon.**_

_**Caterpie uses the suction cups on its feet to climb trees and feed on its favorite leaves."**_

"Do your best trainer!" The boy said.

Blare took out a pokeball. "Go Growlithe!" She said and out he came, ready to battle.

"Caterpie, use Tackle!" The boy commanded and the worm started making his way towards the fire type.

"Growlithe counter with Ember!" Blare commanded. The fire type started to shoot the balls of fire and they impacted on the worm within seconds. It quickly began summersaulting back to its owner where it fainted.

"Caterpie no!" The trainer said, picking the weaken pokémon up.

Blare blinked twice. "Wait… that's it… I just attacked once."

The boy sent Caterpie into its ball and took out another pokeball. "That first battle may have been easy, but this next pokémon won't next one. Go Metapod!"

A dark green cocoon came out and stood silently on the bridge. Blare tilted her head and raised a brow. "Are you serious?" Growlithe was even copying Blare.

Blare checked the pokedex again….

"_**Metapod, the Cocoon Pokémon and the evolved form of Caterpie.**_

_**Its shell is as hard as an iron slab. A Metapod does not move very much because it is preparing its soft innards for evolution inside the shell."**_

The boy laughed with pride. "There's no way you can beat my top Pokémon." He spoke. Growlithe walked up to the Metapod and tapped it… it fell on its side and fainted. The boy fell on his knees. "W-what!? No way! I've been defeated!?" He dropped his head as he sent his fainted pokémon in to its ball.

Blare returned Growlithe and walked up to the boy. "Are you going to be okay?" She asked him.

The boy got up and sighed. "Yea I'll be fine. Just go ahead, the next trainer will be waiting for you." He replied.

"Um… okay… I guess I'll just do that." Blare spoke as she began to walk pass the boy. When she was far enough, she spoke. "Are all the trainers on this bridge going to be that easy… maybe it was just because he was the first one."

At the moment, she was unsure about doing this challenge. She decided to go for it to strengthen her team, but Growlithe was able to beat two pokémon with one attack and a tap. In her opinion, strengthening them may not be so easy.

"So you beat the first trainer I see." Said a feminine voice, making Blare leave her thoughts.

She looked ahead and saw a little lass standing a few feet away. She couldn't have been any more than twelve. "I'm the second trainer." She spoke, holding up a pokeball. "This will be one on one, okay?"

Blare nodded, agreeing.

"Alright, let's start. Go Pidgey!" The lass said. Out of the ball came a foot tall light brown and white bird. It was flapping its wings to stay airborne.

"_**Pidgey, the Tiny Bird Pokémon.**_

_**Pidgey has an extremely sharp sense of direction. It is capable of unerringly returning home to its nest, however far it may be removed from its familiar surroundings." **_Said the pokedex.

"Okay… A flying type." Blare started. "Come on out, Flareon!" She through the ball and out was her newest fire type. She stood on the bridge sort of gracefully in a way. Though her eyes showed she was ready to battle for Blare.

"Pidgey use Tackle!" The lass commanded. The tiny bird pokémon flapped its wings and when for Flareon.

"Flareon, dodge with Quick Attack!" Flareon ran in great speed, getting out of the way of the attack. Pidgey quickly flapped its wings forward, stopping itself from crashing on the bridge. "Now use Bite!" Flareon turned around and went for Pidgey.

"Dodge it with your Quick Attack!" The Lass ordered. Pidgey zipped out of the way right when Flareon was about to bite down on it. "Now use Gust!" Even though Pidgey was small, when it flapped its wings, it created a strong current of wind that hit the fire type.

Flareon was doing her best holding her ground. "Flareon, use Quick Attack to jump!" Blare commanded. Flareon ran her way through the wind and jumped. The Quick Attack allowed her to jump higher and she was looking right Pidgey, who flinched at how close she was. "Now use Fire Spine!" Blare ordered.

Pidgey quickly freaked and turned around, flying as fast as it could, but when Flareon began to her attack, it was too late. The fire surrounded the tiny bird pokémon and consumed it. When the fire broke, Pidgey looked like charcoal and it went down, crashing onto the bridge. Flareon landed right after on her feet.

The lass sent Pidgey back into its ball. "Well, looks like I lost." She said with a small smile. "You're Flareon's good."

"Thanks, your Pidgey wasn't bad either." Replied Blare, sending Flareon back into her ball.

"You can move ahead. The third trainer will be waiting a little farther up." The lass said, moving aside. "Good luck."

Blare nodded her thanks and was walked on ahead. She looked at Flareon pokeball in her hand as was impress how well her battle using the new fire type went. Though with her knowledge of fire types and remembering how she was in the wild, Blare was able to tell Flareon was a fire type that was strong when attacking, but low in defense. It would explain how fast she was.

She then put way Flareon's ball and took out Growlithe's, wanting to use him for the next battle. This happened to be right now. Ahead of Blare was a youngster, sitting on top of the bridge's wooden railing. He noticed her and jumped off.

"Okay." He said. "Let's get to this right away. We'll use one pokémon each, got it." He was about ten, but he sounded like he was trying to be older. "Ladies first."

Blare threw the ball and Growlithe was out once again. The youngster then threw his and out came a small dirty yellow pokémon with large black eyes. Blare checked the pokedex…

"_**Sandshrew, the Mouse Pokemon.**_

_**Sandshrew has a very dry hide that is extremely tough. The Pokémon can **__**roll into a ball**__** that repels any attack. At night, it burrows into the desert sand to sleep."**_

"Never seen a pokémon like that one." Blare spoke. She then looked at Growlithe. "Alright buddy, you ready for this one?" Growlithe barked and Blare looked back ahead. "Go and use Bite!" She commanded and Growlithe started running.

"Sandshrew, use Swift!" The youngster ordered. The pokémon began to shoot dozens of small spinning stars from his mouth.

"Growlithe, stop and use Ember!" Growlithe stopped running and started to shoot the balls of fire. The stars were colliding with the fire balls, canceling out each other. "Now use Poison Sting!" The youngster commanded. The Sandshrew was now shooting thin light purple needles from its mouth and they were going right for Growlithe.

"Quick Growlithe defend yourself with Protect!" Blare shouted. Growlithe stood his ground and the force field went up. The needles hit the shield and where destroyed on impact. "Now, continue with Bite!" Growlithe jumped over the slowly fading shield and ran at his opponent.

He bit down on the pokémon's right arm and it seemed to do damage as Sandshrew's eyes quickly shut tight. "Sandshrew, use Scratch nonstop!" The youngster ordered and the pokémon went right to it. Sandshrew began scratching the fire type. Growlithe did his best to hold his grip.

He was taking damage, and Blare had to something fast. "Growlithe stop using Bite and use Ember!" Growlithe did what he was told and started to shoot the balls of fire. The close contact forced Sandshrew to move back almost three feet.

Blare felt confident, but that quickly went away when Sandshrew stood told and barely had a scratch on it. The youngsters smirked. "That's not going to work. Sandshrew's a ground type. He's strong against fire type moves. Now Sandshrew use's Swift once more!"

Sandshrew shot the stars and they hit Growlithe one by one. The damage he was taking was slowly adding with each hit.

"Growlithe, jump!" Blare commanded. The fire type jumped, missing the last few hits of the swift attack.

"Sandshrew, jump and use Scratch!" The youngster ordered. The ground type jumped and swung his arm.

"Bite now!" Blare countered. Growlithe bit down on Sandshrew's arm right when it was about to strike with Scratch. "Now throw it!" In the air, the fire type swung the ground type and threw him down to the ground.

"Sandshrew, use Swift to soften your landing!" The youngster shouted. The ground type began to do just that. As the stars hit the ground, the speed Sandshrew was going was slowing down little by little until it touched the ground and Growlithe landed right after.

"Growlithe, use Bite again!" Blare commanded.

"Sandshrew, once more use Scratch!" The youngster ordered.

The two pokémon ran at each other, ready to strike…

**=End of Chapter Nine=**


	10. Chapter 10

**=Chapter Ten: A Fired Up Challenge Part: II=**

They ran. Growlithe using Bite and Sandshrew using Scratch.

"Jump!" Blare ordered. At the last second, the fire type leaped into the air, just missing the Scratch attack. "Continue Bite!" Growlithe dived and bit down on the top of the ground type's head. When he was back down on the bridge it forced Sandshrew down and it began to freak, trying to break out of the grip. "Now! Close contact Ember!" Blare commanded.

The fire was so close up that when it hit Sandshrew, it instantly went flying back. The ground type hit the wooden floor on its back and it fainted.

The youngster was shocked. "But how could that happen? Sandshrew is strong against fire types." He said.

"That might be." Blare started. "But even though Sandshrew is a ground type, it's still was taking damage. Regardless of type, the damage adds up."

The youngster sighed and returned his pokémon back into its ball. He then looked at Blare. "Well, I guess that's it. You're really good, not many trainers have gotten pass me. Though I have to warn you the fourth trainer is really tough."

"That's alright. I'll take my chances." Blare replied and began to make her way pass the youngster. This time she didn't send Growlithe back into his ball and the little fire type quickly followed.

At this point, Blare could see the ending of the bridge. It was still far away, but the sight of land was there. She then began to think about the prize. The boys she spoke to at the Pokémon center had no clue what it was and that alone really got her fascination. Blare also thought about this challenge. She wondered just who would put this together and for what purpose. Was it help trainers and their pokémon get stronger? Or was it just for their amusement?

She had to think about it later, because she quickly saw the fourth trainer walking closer to her. Another girl.

"Well, well, well." The girl began. "You must be experienced to make it this far. I'm going to enjoy this battle."

Blare nodded. "I'm thinking the same thing. So what is it going to be? A one on one or two on two?" She asked the trainer.

"Neither." The girl replied. "You and I are going to be having a double battle."

Blare looked at her, confused. "A double battle? What's that?" She asked.

The girl explained. "A double battle is when you use two pokémon at the same time and command both in battle. The trainer who has both of their pokémon defeated, lose. Got it? Let's begin." The girl threw the pokeballs at the same time. "You two! Come on out!"

Out came two pokémon that were the same size and almost the same shape. One was dark purple and had a small sharp horn on its head between two long eat. It also had spikes on it back. The other was a light blue and seemed to have whiskers in a way. It had a horn too and ears, but they were smoother and shorter. The spikes on its back were also less compared to the other.

"Nido!" They said in unison.

Blare looked at one and then at the other. She quickly checked the pokedex. First pointing at the dark purple one. Then at the light blue one…

"_**Nidoran, the Poison Pin Pokemon.**_

_**The male Nidoran has developed muscles for moving its ears. Thanks to them, the ears can be freely moved in any direction. Even the slightest sound does not escape this Pokémon's notice."**_

…

"_**Nidoran, the Poison Pin Pokemon**_

_**Although small, its venomous barbs render this Pokémon dangerous. The female has smaller horns."**_

Blare looked at them again. "Wait… they're both named Nidoran? But the pokedex had too different entries. How can it have two different ones for a boy and a girl?"

"That's what makes them special." The girl replied. "Normally pokémon that can be both genders are the same. Though these Nidoran are an exception. The male Nidoran and the Female Nidoran are in the same species and they evolve the same way. Yet what they evolve into is something the other one can't. They're the only pokémon that are like that."

Blare was getting excited at the sight of the Nidoran. She never thought two different pokémon could be on in the same.

"I'm guessing you're going to use your Growlithe there. So take out your next pokémon." The girl said.

Blare nodded and sent Flareon out right away. "Okay you two, listen up." Blare spoke, getting her pokémon's attention. "You two are going to be battle as a team, okay?" The fire types nodded.

"Alright then, let's get started! Use Poison Sting!" The girl commanded. The Nidoran started to run side by side, their horns lowered to hit their target.

"Quick Growlithe, used Ember! Flareon, use Fire Spin!" Blare commanded. The fire types began blasting the fire type move at the running the running poison type duo.

"Jump to dodge!" The girl ordered. The Nidoran jumped, flying over the flames. "Now use Double Kick!" As they went down, they extended their back legs, hitting the fire types head on. Growlithe and Flareon were forced on their hind legs and then fell on their backs. When they kicked, the Nidoran used the force to flip back and land back to where they originally stood.

The fire types quickly got back up. "Flareon, go at them with Quick Attack!" Blare commanded. The flame pokémon ran in intense speed at the Nidoran.

"Use Thunderbolt! The girl shouted. The little poison types had sparks starting to appear around their bodies. Then it expanded and a bolt of lightning came from them and went two the fire types.

"Growlithe, Protect!" Blare shouted at the last minute. The shield went up and defended Growlithe from getting hurt. Yet Flareon wasn't as lucky. The attack hit her and she instantly stopped moving. She was in pain and whimpering as the attack kept going. And when it ended, her body was shaking, struggling to stay up from that hit.

"Double Kick once more!" The girl demanded. The pokémon ran, jumped and kicked Flareon. The fire type took double the damage than before. She back and crashed passed Blare.

"Flareon!" Blare said, looking at the wounded pokémon. She then heard a zap and she turned back to see Growlithe was being stuck by a Thunderbolt. He quickly lost feeling in his legs and fell. He was struggling.

Blare looked a head at the two Nidoran and then at their trainer. She was struggling with her thoughts. Double battling was much harder than it sounded. The Nidoran were so in sync. They've obviously had a lot of experience this type of battling. Unlike herself. She was having a hard time trying to control both her pokémon at once. They had different moves. They didn't have the same ones like the Nidoran did.

It was then that Blare realized something…

"Growlithe, Flareon, can you get up?" She asked. Flareon and Growlithe were able to get up, but they had a hard time staying that way. "Flareon, use Quick Attack!" It took her a moment, but then Flareon went running. "Growlithe, run at them!" Like Flareon, Growlithe needed a moment before he was able to run.

"Use Thunderbolt once more!" The girl shouted. Her pokémon charged up and shot the lighting. Like before, it was going for Growlithe and Flareon.

"Growlithe, stop and use Ember!" Blare commanded. Growlithe did as she said and began to shoot the balls of fires. Though he was only able to shoot for a few seconds before the bolt hit him. Flareon wasn't far behind.

At first, the Nidoran was continuing the attacks, but Growlithe's Ember was still going. It struck the female Nidoran and caused her to stop attacking. Growlithe quickly took this time to get the little strength he had back. "Now run!" Blare ordered and the fire type started running ahead.

"Nidoran use Thunderbolt again!" The girl ordered. The female Nidoran got focused and began to charged, but Growlithe was now right in her face.

"Bite now!" Blare commanded.

Before Nidoran could attack, Growlithe bit now on her right ear, causing her to stop the attack.

The male Nidoran finally stopped using Thunderbolt and Flareon was down, she still had some fight in her, but it was obvious if she got hit one more time that would be it for her.

Growlithe bit down harder on the female Nidoran's ear and she let out a cry. The girl quickly saw this and then looked at the male Nidoran. "Nidoran stop Growlithe with Poison Sting!"

"Quick Attack!" Balre quickly commanded.

Before the male Nidoran could even run, Flareon speeded up and slammed against him. The poison type flew passed its trainer. Again the female Nidoran cried out as Growlithe's grip tightened.

"Now use Fire Spin on Nidoran!" Blare added. Flareon focused on the female Nidoran, but because Growlithe was close, the fire attack hit him too. It wasn't a problem though. His Flash Fire ability save him from the hit. And when the fire went out, the female Nidoran was on the ground, knocked out. Growlinthe stood next to her, surrounded by the glowing red aura.

The girl checked the male Nidoran, he was out after one hit. She turned back to look at Blare. Flareon and Growlithe were now standing next to her, both out of breath. The girl sighed and sent her pokémon back into their balls.

"Well, looks like I have to congratulate you. You're the first trainer to see through my tactics. How did you see it?" The girl asked.

Blare explained. "Your pokémon both had the same moves. They moved at the same time, they attacked the same way. The only way to stop that was to block off one of them. Thunderbolt caused my pokémon to get nowhere near them, but before they can do that, the Nidoran needed to charge up."

The girl nodded. "I see what you did there. When they're charging, they can't do anything else." She then began clapping. "I like the way you think, but there's still one more trainer before you finish the challenge."

Blare looked at her pokémon. This battle really did a number on them. Flareon was one hit away from fainting and Growlithe wasn't far behind. There may have been only one trainer left, but that didn't take over her concern for her pokémon. It may have meant she would have to do this challenge all over again, but Flareon and Growlithe health had to be taken care off.

Suddenly Growlithe barked at her. She looked at her pokémon and into their eyes. They seemed to know what she thinking. And they didn't want that. At least not yet. They were pushing her to continue on. To battle that last trainer.

It took her a moment, but Blare nodded. She looked at the girl and then made her way passed her, with the fire types following.

They were near the ending of the bridge. Blare could see the grassy land not that far now, though standing at the end of the bridge was an old man.

As the three walked closer, Blare could see the old man was fragile. She could see his body was shaking vigorously. His eyes were almost shut close, showing his eyesight wasn't that well. He was hunched over and needed a cane to hold him up. Though it wasn't giving him much support. He looked like he could fall at any moment. To put it simply, he seemed to be at least in his early nineties.

When she reached him, it took the old man a minute are two before he even noticed her standing in front of him. "Oh hello little girl." He spoke, almost out of breath. "You've beaten four trainers already?"

Blare nodded politely at the elder.

The old man chuckled lightly. "Well congratulations from making it this far… I'm the last trainer of this challenge… I'm also the one who created this challenge."

Blare raised her brow. "Really? You made this challenge?"

The old man nodded. "I sure did. You young people love to battle and work with you pokémon. I thought making this challenge would help you with that…. But enough small talk… come with me." He the start to turn around.

"Wait, where are we going?" Blare asked.

"I've grown a bit tired of being on this bridge. I say we should battle in a different scenery. Don't you think?" Replied the old man.

Blare didn't know what to say. The old man was moving already. Slowly, but he was moving. So she followed him. Though not before sending her pokémon back into their pokeballs. They were in weak condition, so it was best to save their energy for the battle.

As she followed the old man, she quickly saw that the farther they went, the more there wasn't anything. There were no trees or large boulders around. There was no sight of water, but the fresh water smell was still in the air so it was near. The only thing around was grass.

After what became an hour of walking, the old man stopped. "This place will do. Nothing to get in the way of our pokémon from battling at their true potential."

"I guess you're right? So how's this battle going to work?" Blare asked the old man.

The old man then turned around to face her. "Before that, what is you name young girl?"

"Blare." She replied.

"Ah, Blare, wonderful name… Blare, have you ever heard of a group called Team Rocket?" The man asked her.

She tilted her head. "Team Rocket? I think I might have, but I'm not sure."

The old man continued. "They're a group that… helps Pokémon by… separating them from their trainers."

Blare pushed her brows together. "Separating them? You mean taking them away from their trainers? Why would they do that?"

"Because they…" The man paused for a moment. "Need it."

"That doesn't seem right." Blare began. "I mean do they… take them by force or what?"

"If they need too." The old man replied. "But there is the chance of the trainer allowing it to happen… so Blare, what do you say? You're the first trainer to get this far in the challenge. That must mean you're pretty experienced. So, I'm asking you, would you like to join Team Rocket?"

"W-no. No I won't join them." Blare quickly answered. "Taking another trainer's pokémon is wrong."

"Is that you're final answer? The old man asked. And Blare quickly nodded. The old man sighed. "That's a shame."

Suddenly, the old man dropped the cane. Blare thought he was about to fall without, but to her surprise, he was still standing…. In fact, his body stopped shaking vigorously. He was standing completely still.

He then stood up tall, quickly standing up to almost six feet. His eyes opened up completely, showing they were dark blue. What happened next shocked Blare.

He grabbed his face and ripped it off… it was a mask. He was younger. The clothes he was wearing was a bodysuit as it suddenly fell off. He was wearing all black with gray boots, gloves, and a belt. On his top, was a large red R. He looked about in his twenties. He had short dirty red hair and he looked at Blare with an evil grin.

He took out a pokeball and spoke. His voice sounding nowhere like the old man. "I guess I'll have to take your pokémon now."

**=End of Chapter Ten=**


	11. Chapter 11

**=Chapter Eleven: A Spark of a Blazing Evil=**

The man threw the ball and out came a pokémon.

It stood tall at five foot three. The bluish gray pokémon looked sinisterly at Blare as it tightened its muscles on its four arms. It took one step forward to intimidate her, which it did as Blare took a step back. With its deep voice, it spoke in a low tone and took its time. "Ma… champ."

Blare felt her heart race to a speed that it was as if it was trying to get out of her. She didn't understand what was happening. She couldn't even put together how this man looked at sounded like an elderly just a few seconds ago.

The man then spoke. "I'll ask you one more time dear Blare, because you're so young and thought too fast. Would you like to join Team Rocket?"

"No!" Blare quickly answered. "I would never steal someone else's pokémon!" She was trying to sound brave, but her nerves were clearly overshadowing that idea.

The man crossed his arms. "Suit yourself. Don't say I didn't ask nicely." He looked at his pokémon. "Machamp, use Mega Punch." His voice was calm.

The pokémon quickly rose on of its arms and threw it at Blare. She jumped back as fast as she could. The punch hit the ground she was just on. The moment she stood on the land again, Blare was having a problem trying to keep her balance. The punch caused the ground to shake.

"Again." The man spoke. Machamp swung again and again Blare jumped out of the way, but this time it almost hit her. To make it an almost horrifying moment, the ground that got hit had cracks that were slowly expanding. "This would be a lot easier if you would hold still little girl." The man added.

Blare began to run off, but with nothing but grass insight, she had no idea what to do.

The man sighed. "Machamp, use Cross Chop." The pokémon used the muscles in its legs to jump higher than normal. He practically went flying. Machamp then crossed two of its four arms to form an X. Seconds after; its arms began to glow in a white light and dived down.

It hit the ground when landing, causing it to crack and shatter. The farther the crack went ahead, the more the earth broke behind it. Pieces of the ground flew up into the air from the force of the attack.

The crack was reaching Blare at a fast pace and soon it was under her. When it was, the earth continued to shatter. She was forced up in the air and thrown ahead. The red head crashed hard, stomach first, bouncing twice before stopping.

The man and his Machamp began making their way towards her. It took a second for Blare's body to wake up from the blow before. She turned around and saw them coming. She quickly pushed herself up and began to run again. Though the fall seemed to have affected her legs. They had strength in them, but Blare could feel they were holding back.

"If you keep on running it's only going to get worse." The man spoke. "Machamp use Mach Punch on the ground."

The large pokémon punched the soft grassy ground and caused it to shake. The vibrations hit Blare and her legs began to wiggle, making her fall again. Before she could even try to get herself up, Machamp used Mach Punch a second time. The vibration was stronger this time. Any part of her body Blare tried to move up was quickly shaken down.

"I apologize for having to do this. I'm feeling awful for beating up girl." The man began. "I'll ask one more time. Would you like… to join Team Rocket?"

Blare slowly used her hands push herself up. Her back was to the man and the Machamp. She was able to get on her knees. Still not facing them, Blare spoke. "I said it before… and I'm going to say it again… I am not… do you hear me… NOT going to join Team Rocket!" Her voice went louder with each words she spoke.

The man sighed. "I guess that's it then… Machamp." The large pokémon walked over to Blare until he was at least two feet away. "Finish her another Mega Punch." Machamp raised one of his fists in the air. After a second, it threw the punch.

Blare swung her right arm. "Protect!"

A flash of light appeared and the moment it was gone, Machamp's punch hit a green force field. In it was Growlithe, growling and angrily looking directly at the large pokemon's eyes. The arm Blare moved had Growlithe's pokeball in its hand. The force field cased Machamp to throw off hit fist

"Now use Ember!" Blare shouted, turning to look at all of them. Growlithe took down the shield and shot his attack. Yet the large pokémon had to only put a hand in front of itself to block off the attack. Growlithe was still very weak from the last battle so the attack didn't have that much strength in it. Even in the close range he was in.

"Nice try." The man said. "Though it would take a stronger attack to do any damage to my pokémon." He crossed his arms. "Machamp use Cross Chop."

Machamp jumped in the air and formed an X with its arms before they lit up. Blare panicked and quickly grabbed Growlithe before once again running out of the way. Like before, when Machamp came down, it hit the ground with the attack. The cracks then shattered with piece of the earth being force up and flying everywhere.

Blare knew from the last time that she wouldn't be able to get away from the attack aftershock. And with Growlithe in her arms, he was going to end up in a worse shape than he already was. When crack reached under her, the earth shattered at threw her up. In a split second, she quickly curled herself around the little fire type. When they crashed, Blare took all the damage and Growlithe was safe.

Growlithe wiggled his way out of Blare's arms and stood next to her. Her body had taken some hard hits from the crashes. She let out a few groans as she was trying to cope with the pain. The sight of it saddened Growlithe, thought the moment he looked at the Machamp, he was furious. He didn't care how weak he was at the moment. The idea of Blare hurt was the last thing he ever wanted to see. He ran right at the large pokémon.

The man raised a brow. "Running into a battle with an order from the trainer? What a… strange thing to do… no matter. Machamp, hit it with Mega Punch."

Machamp went at the weakened fire type with another fist and when it tried to hit, it was again blocked by Growlithe's Protect. Growlithe then thought on his toes and ran up the pokémon's arm. Machamp used one its other hands to grab him, but Growlithe jumped before he could and just started to run up that arm.

This became a running thing. Machamp would try to grab Growlithe, only to have him jump and run along the arm. Not once was he attacking.

Blare was then struggling to get up. All the movements she made sent a sharp pain in her body. When she was standing up, her legs were shaking hysterically. She was breathing hard and her vision was slightly fuzzy. She looked ahead and saw what was happening. Growlithe wasn't getting hurt, but at some point he would.

That moment soon came. Machamp was able to grab Growlithe with two of its hands. The fire type yelped at the tight space around it, before being thrown harshly to the ground, where it howled in pain at the impact.

"Enough of this. I'm annoyed of all this wasted time. Mega Punch. And make sure it's the last time." The man spoke, the tone of his voice, cold as ice.

"No…" Blare said weakly.

Machamp raised an arm.

"No." Blare said, again weakly.

"NO!"Blare suddenly shouted. For that moment she felt no pain in her body and she ran towards them. Machamp made a fist and threw it. Blare got in front of Growlithe and the fist hit her in the stomach.

Her eye's widened from the hit. At first, there was an excruciating pain that surged through her whole body; the air in her was pushed out. Then, when the fist was gone, all she could hear was a ringing sound in her ears. The energy in her body was gone. Her legs gave out. Blare fell to her knees and then entirely to the ground.

She saw the man's feet walking over to her. He was probably saying something, but all she heard was the ringing. Her vision was jumping from clear, to darkening, to clear again. She could see him getting closer and suddenly he stopped.

Blare saw his feet jump. The spot that he stood on was bit by a blue beam. The grass was then covered with ice. Her vision could go anywhere else and it continued to go from clear to dark. She could feel the vibrations. There was a lot of moment and by how hard it was coming up, there must have been a battle going on. A part of her hoped that Growlithe was able to get up and fight again the Machamp, but that thought was gone when remembering he didn't know any moves that created ice.

Someone had showed up, but before she could find out who it was and even before the battle ended, everything completely turned dark…

* * *

Darkness… that was all that was around her… darkness.

Blare walked forwards. At least that's what she thought. There was no way to tell if she was or not.

She looked around, trying to see if there was anything or anyone… nothing showed… at least not at first…

Ahead she saw two small dots getting larger and larger, indicating they were getting closer. It wasn't long before Blare could tell what they were and she freaked. It was the Primeape. They were running towards her in an uncontrollable rage.

Blare turned to run, but the moment she looked there, she was surprised to see Alakazam a few feet away. The pokemon placed its spoons together to from an X. It was about to attack.

Blare then heard some wind blowing, as if something was coming in an immense speed, from above. She looked up and saw Machamp was flying down with its arms crossed a bathed in light. It was using Cross Chop.

Alakazam then shot a beam of psychic energy at the red head, while at the same time the Primeape were ready to use Mega Punch.

Blare was being attacked from all directions, she couldn't run anywhere. The attacks were about to strike her, she panicked as that was all she was able to do…

She shot her eyes open and sat up as a reflex… it was a dream.

Her stomach was slightly sore and she rubbed it to feel better. It was then she realized she was on a bed and in a room she didn't recognized. There was a window a few feet away and it was opened just a crack. Blare could smell the fresh water air. She knew from that alone she was still in Cerulean City. Or at least close to it.

She tried to get off the bed, but when she did, half of her didn't move. She looked at her legs and as much as she tried. She couldn't move them. This didn't make her panic though. Blare could feel them, but she just didn't have enough strength to move them.

Blare gabbed one leg with her hands and pulled it to edge of the bed, before doing the same to the other foot. She sat there for a moment, trying to do her best to move them. She focused on her feet. It took a few minutes, but eventually she was able move them and bend her toes. She then took in a deep breath and jumped of the bed… she fell to the ground instantly. Her feet worked, but legs still needed more time.

She rolled on her back and sat up. She then grabbed onto the bed and struggled a bit to pull herself up.

The process took it's time; the strength was slowly coming back bit by bit. Her feet were wigging liked two sticks trying to hold up a stack of bricks. She tried to walk, almost the entire time doing so, she would almost fall. It took almost half an hour just to make it from the bed to the door. She had to hold on to something as support.

Blare soon made her way into a hall. It wasn't that long and there was a staircase at the end, but with how long it took her to get here, the hallway might as well have been the other side of the world.

Suddenly, she heard something. It was coming from the bottom of the staircase… barking… it was Growlithe's bark. She knew well what it sounded like and that was it. She automatically tried to speed. She was like a rag doll. If someone was watching her right now, they would have a challenge not to burst into laughter.

When she was about to reach the stairs, her legs shut of completely. She fell forward… down the stairs. She was going straight down and was going to crash head first at the bottom.

Just then, through the mix of it all, Blare realized there was a handlebar attached to the wall. She grabbed it with her hands. Her body swung from the sudden stop. Her bottom half flew from the back to front and pulled her, almost making her lose her grip on the bar. She let out a sigh as she was sitting two steps away from the bottom.

Footsteps appeared. Someone was running over towards where Blare was. When the person got there, Blare was looking at the floor and she quickly looked up.

Her skin was a silky color. She wore a white one piece swimsuit that had a simple blue line design. Over it she had on a jacket that was clear blue on most of the outside and sky blue on the inside and sleeves. On her feet, she had on white sandals. She had green eyes and a red hair that was style with the tips facing forward, as well as the top. By appearance, she couldn't have been any more than three years Blare's senior.

"I should have known you would tried to walk down here on your own." The girl spoke. She then extended her hand to help Blare up. "Now that you're up, I can ask what your name is."

Blare blinked twice at first, looking at the girl's hand before taking. Um, my name's Blare.

The girl smiled. "Nice to meet you Blare, I'm Misty."

The girl, Misty, helped Blare walk through the floor. She led her to a large room with stands on the side and the largest pool ever seen. The sight of it made Blare drop her jaw at the sight of it. There were even a few floating round platforms in it.

"Come on." Misty said. "Let's get your legs into the pool. It not that cold, but the temperature difference will jumpstart your muscles." She slowly lowered Blare down on the pool's edge. The moment her legs touched the water, her reflexes kicked in and they twitched. Misty was right, the muscles in her legs were starting to act up.

Misty sat next to her. Blare took up no time and quickly starting asking questions. "Misty, are we in Cerulean City?"

Misty nodded. "Oh yea, we're defiantly in Cerulean. You don't have to worry about that."

"And… I'm guessing you're the one that save me from that guy." Blare asked.

Again, Misty nodded. "Yea… I was so glad I made it there in time. That rocket grunt did a number on you awhile back."

"Rocket grunt? So he was with Team Rocket… that would make sense." Blare spoke, looking at her reflection in the water. "So how was I out for? My legs were numb, so I know it had to have been for a few hours."

"A few hours?" Misty said, surprised at that idea. "Try again… almost four days."

"Four days!?" Blare looked at Misty with total shock. "I was out for four day!? How could I be out of that long!?"

"Almost four." Misty corrected. "When I got to you, I saw you took a harsh hit from that Machamp. It was a fighting type so its hands are every important when it comes to battle. Not only that, but you're body broke into a fever to cope with it. Honestly I'm glad it was almost four days and not more."

Four days. Blare just couldn't believe it. Once punch made her lose almost a week of her life. She focused back on Misty. She spoke a bit calmer. "How did you know to go over to where the guy and I were?"

"That nugget bridge challenge at the time was only three days old." Misty explained. "When it first came up, it was out of nowhere. Most people would think that's shady, but because of how it was laid out, people thought it was just a good way for trainers to gain more experience, along with their pokémon… but then on the day you took on the challenge, something came up… the old man that put the whole thing together. He had showed up out of nowhere…. No one knew about him, no one but the trainers that he hired. Who also were just randomly chosen."

"Randomly chosen?" Blare question.

"Yea… they all lived here and the old man had just walked up to them, asking if they wanted to help out with the challenge. Besides that day, no one had ever seen him before… the day you went and took that challenge; I went over to the bridge a bit after… and that's when I saw what was happening. He was about to attack you again, but I quickly stopped him… after that he disappeared. He hasn't shown his face since. The challenge doesn't exist anymore either."

"So then he's gone." Blare spoke. She sighed at the idea. She remembered about what the guy told her. Team Rocket going on and stealing pokemon from others. Who knew what else they did? She sighed again. "Well, thanks for saving me Misty… though I would like to know, why did you take the case? I mean from how you talked about it, you have to work the police right?"

Misty giggled and shook her head. "No, I'm no police officer, but looking after this city is still part of my job…. I'm the gym leader of the Cerulean Gym."

Blare dropped her jaw. "Wait… gym leader?" Misty nodded. Blare looked around. "So then… right now… we're in the gym?"

"Yep… in fact, this pool right here, this is where the gym battles happen." Misty replied. "Easy way to say I use water type pokemon… I guess that makes us opposites since both your pokemon are fire types."

Blare suddenly remembered her pokemon. "Growlithe! I heard him bark before! Where is he? And Flareon, what about her? Is she okay?"

Misty looked around the large room. "Yea, um… they were just here… where did they go… Oh, there they are." She said, looking up into the stands.

Blare looked at where Misty's attention was. There, she saw them. They were playing around with each other. Flareon was jumping from seat to seat and Growlithe chased her. They were completely healed up. The sight of them made Blare happy. "Growlithe! Flareon!" She called out to them.

They stopped what they were doing and saw her. The moment they did, they grew ecstatic and ran down the stand towards her. Before Blare could do anything, they reached her and pounced at her. Making Blare fall to her side and one of her legs stick out of the water.

Blare laughed as Growlithe was on top of her, licking her face hysterically. While Flareon was rubbing her head all over her.

Misty smiled at the sight. "Those two really care for you." She said. "They almost never left you side when you were out. I took them to the center to get healed after I brought you here. I've been feeding them too. Though it took me a while to get pokemon food that a fire type would like."

Blare got Growlithe off and got herself sitting up. She looked at her legs and realized she could move them. So she took them out of the water and stood up.

The fire types ran in circles around her. They filled with so much energy at the sight of her. Blare just giggled at them. Misty even joined in on the laughter.

That incident with the rocket grunt may have shed new light to what could happen in world. Yet it wasn't enough to take away the happiness they were feeling right now. They were all fine and that's all that mattered…

Though… they had no idea… at that moment… they were being watched…

The top of the walls had window, letting in light from the outside… outside of them were narrow ledges. The only way someone could stand on them was if they had great balance… and someone was… the rocket grunt… his eyes were locked on Blare.

He spoke in whisper. "Hm… Blare… who would have thought I would see you again."

**=End of Chapter Eleven=**

* * *

**Hey readers. I hope you guys like the story so far. Here's a little something to puzzle you're mind for a bit. **

**I made Blare's name… well, Blare, for a reason. Why do you think that was the name I had given her? **

**The answer will be on the next chapter. For now, please review if you think you know why. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Here's the answer for the question.**

**The reason I named Blare her name was a simple one. As we've seen, she wants to master five types. That type is one of the starter types for each region. Blare's name is one letter different from the ability all fire type starters share. That being Blaze. **

**Changing the Z into an R and you have Blare's name… simple as that.**

* * *

**=Chapter Twelve: Begin the Heated Game=**

After being saved by Misty, Cerulean City's gym leader, from the hands of a Rocket Grunt and his Machamp, Blare and her pokemon have begun take this time to get themselves together before continuing on through Kanto.

During this time, Misty has allowed Blare, Growlithe and Flareon to stay with her at the gym until they've figure out what they'll do.

First day in the city, caused Blare to lose four days and now this was day five in the Cerulean city…

* * *

Blare and her pokemon sat in the stands, they watched as Misty was doing one of the most important roles when it comes to being a gym leader, facing a challenger.

On the battle field, Misty was at one end, standing at one the floating platforms. The challenger, a young ten year old boy, was standing at the other end. Unlike Misty, who was standing calm and tall, the boy was struggling to keep his balance on the wobbling structure.

The battle was a two on two. The boy already lost his first pokemon and was on his second. Misty on the other hand, was still using her first. The boy took in a deep breath while he held a pokeball and then exhaled before making his move. "Alright Nidorino, win this for me!" He threw the ball.

A pokemon came out and stood on one of the platforms. The sight of it reminded Blare of a male Nidoran, but bigger, with a longer horn, and a darker shade of purple. She quickly checked the pokedex…

"_**Nidorino, the Poison Pin Pokemon and the evolved form of a male Nidoran.**_

_**Nidorino has a horn that is harder than a diamond. If it senses a hostile presence, all the barbs on its back bristle up at once, and it challenges the foe with all its might."**_

"Alright, let's continue the battle." Misty spoke out, loud enough to be heard at the other end of the large room. "Starmie, use Water Gun!"

Something could be heard moving around from in the pool water. A shadowy silhouette appeared, making its way up to the surface. It broke through, making water splash up everywhere.

In the air was a large violet pokemon. It was shaped like two stars with one in front of the other. The front was right-side up and the back upside down. In the center was a gold formation that had a large red cut precious stone. It gave out a feminine sound. This was the pokemon Misty called Starmie.

Starmie bent the tip of its top point and shot water right at its opponent.

"Quick, Nidorino dodge it!" The challenger commanded, a bit off guard. The poison type jumped right as when the water hit the platform. "Use Horn Attack!" Nidorino faced his horn at Starmie and dived at it.

"Counter with Swift!" Misty ordered. Starmie began to spin and sent several dozen small stars at Nidorino. It did double the damage as Nidorino had gotten too close. He lost focus on his attack and fell into the water, making a large splash. It took a moment, but Nidorino's head popped back up to the surface.

"Nidorino you have to get on one of the platforms fast!" The boy shouted out. The pokemon saw the nearest one and began to swim his way to it.

"Oh no you don't! Starmie, use Ice Beam!" Misty ordered. The double star shaped pokemon bent down and shot a light blue beam at the water. The moment it did, the water surface froze and quickly reached Nidorino, surround him and trapping. He was unable to move.

It was this move that let Blare know that Misty used this pokemon when the rocket grunt attacked her.

Nidorino struggled as he tried to move. Here, Misty finished the battle. "Starmie hit Nidorino with Rapid Spin!"

Starmie span rapidly and swiftly moved towards Nidorino. It slammed on him so hard that the ice around them shattered and they went down into the water, leaving a large opening.

After a few seconds, Starmie came out of the water and stood on the ice. And a second after, Nidorino floated to the surface, knocked out.

The trainer fell to his knees and looked at his reflection with defeat as he sent his pokemon back into his ball. Starmie hovered its way over to Misty. "Sorry, but I'm afraid you lose." She said. "You know your way out of the gym right?"

The boy nodded and got up. "Thank you for the battle." He said before getting out of the pool and making his was out of the room.

Blare and her pokemon walked out of the stands and made their way to Misty. There, Starmie hovered over the fire types and then moved off, making Growlithe and Flareon go after it in a playful manner.

"Wow, I can't believe you've taken on four trainers today already." Blare said with amazement. "And it only just turned noon."

"Yea well, after a while you get used to it." Replied Misty. "I have one more challenger for today, but that's not until around two. You want to go out and get something to eat?"

Blare nodded. "Yea sure, but what about the pool? You need it for your battles and it's almost completely covered in ice."

Misty shrugged. "What can I do? I'll have to wait and let it melt on its own."

Blare smiled. "Don't worry about that. I've got it. Growlithe! Flareon!" She called out. The fire types were already at the other side of the pool. They stopped chasseing Starmie and looked at her. "Can you two help get rid of the ice?"

The two nodded and focused on the ice before using Ember and Fire Spin. The moment the attacks hit the ice, steam started to go up into the air. The two continued the attacks for a few more seconds and then stopped. The ice was melting fast.

Misty smiled at the sight and then looked at Blare. "Wow, not bad."

"When you're hot, you're hot." Blare said, sounding as corny as she could.

* * *

Misty took Blare and the fire types a restaurant the severed both people and pokemon. It didn't take Blare to be a scientist to see that Misty's gym leader title got them to do things that other people couldn't do. At the restaurant, there were people waiting in line for a table to open up. Yet the moment Misty walked in, the restaurant suddenly had one open.

When they ordered, even their food came in a record time.

As they ate, Blare couldn't help but look around and see everyone's eyes were on them. She felt a bit uncomfortable, but when looking at Misty, she wasn't fazed by it. "Hey Misty." She whispered. "Does this always happen a lot? You know, getting what you want right away?"

Misty swallowed her food and nodded. "Yea, almost all the time. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I enjoy getting something before someone who's been waiting dose. I would decline at first, but they would just keep at it… what can I do about that?"

Just then, a girl scurried over to their table, get getting Misty and Blare's attention the moment she stood in front of them. She had a piece of paper and a pen in her hands. "Excuse me Misty… but would it be too much if I asked for your autograph?" The girl spoke, a little nervous.

Misty smiled and put down the silverware. "It's no trouble at all." The girl beamed and handed her the paper and pen.

As Misty signed it, Blare couldn't help but notice a band around the girl's right arm with the number twelve on it. Misty finished and handed the paper back to the girl before noticed the band as well. "I see you're going to be in the tournament tomorrow."

The girl nodded. "I sure am. I'm hoping to win the entire thing."

"Well good luck with that." Misty replied. With that, girl ran off.

"There's a tournament tomorrow?" Blare asked.

Misty nodded. "The Stone-a-Rarity Tournament. It happens twice a year in Cerulean City. One in the spring and once in autumn."

"What's it for?" Blare asked curiously.

Misty explained. "Unlike that nugget bridge challenge, this is real. Depending on how many enter, depends on how long it'll last. I've seen it go for seven days straight a few years ago. And it also affects the rules too. Trainers get together and battle each other to win a really good prize… A moon stone. Maybe even two."

"A moon stone. Is it something like a fire stone?" Blare asked.

Misty nodded. "Yea… you see, west from here is a place called Mt. Moon. In it, if you search really hard, and I mean REAL hard, you can find a moon stone. Certain pokemon can evolve with the moon stone, so it's a good prize. Plus, it's one of the best ways to see pokemon that are not from around this location in Kanto."

"Hmm… sounds cool. Maybe I should join." Blare spoke. She looked at her pokemon as the indulged in their food. "I still need to work on Growlithe's Ember. And I've only used Flareon in two battles… how do I get into it?"

"Registration started about two days ago. They put up a stand in front of the pokemon center. The deadline to enter ends at one today." Misty answered. She looked at her food for a second. "So… I think that's… about fifteen minutes from now."

She looked back up… Blare was gone. Misty blinked twice and looked around. "Blare… hey where'd you go?"

* * *

Blare was running as fast as her legs would allow her too. She was going in such a speed that the sweat on her face didn't have a chance to bead down. Instead, it went flying off.

When Blare reached the pokemon center, she saw the stand and began to slow down. When she was in front of it, she stopped completely and took in as much air as her lungs could take. The woman sitting at the other end of the desk looked at her with concern. "Um… can I help you with something little girl?"

Blare breathed in one more deep breath and stood tall before answering the woman. "I would like to register for the tournament please."

The woman looked her wristwatch and smiled. "Well, it looks like you made with less than one minute left." Blare smiled at this news. The woman then went for something under the desk and came up with paper and pen in one hand and a red band with the number sixteen on it in the other. She handed the pen and paper to Blare. "Please write your name, home town or city and the two pokemon you will be using in the tournament."

When Blare finished, the woman took the paper and pen and gave her the band. "The tournament begins at ten tomorrow morning at the far east of the city. You need that band on you or you can't take part, okay? I hope you do well."

Blare nodded her thanks at the woman and started to walk off. She kept her eyes on the number. It was clear to her that there were only fifteen other contenders. Besides that girl from before, she had no clue of the others. She knew the prize was a moon stone. So she knew some of them have to have pokemon that evolve with it.

"So, I see you were able to get registered." A voice spoke. Blare looked ahead and saw Misty. "That's great and all, but I think you forgot something at the restaurant… two somethings." She pointed down and Blare's eyes followed.

Growlithe and Flareon looked annoyed at her… she forgot them and left them at the restaurant…

Blare raised her brows. "Oh… yea… sorry about that." The fire types just groaned at her.

The four began to make their way back to the gym. As they did, the girls talked about the tournament. "Do you think you're going to win?" Misty asked.

Blare shrugged. "I would like to but, since I was the last one to register and by how many people there are… I'm going to have to get through four battles."

"That doesn't sound so bad… then again, I did that before lunch." Misty said. "So who are you going to use? Growlithe or Flareon?"

"Both. I need have two pokemon." Answered Blare.

Misty crossed her arms. "I've times when the trainers had to use only one, or three and even four. I wonder how the rules are going to work for two."

Blare smiled. "I don't know, but I sure they'll do just fine."

* * *

The next day came and the crowd was going crazy in the stadium. They were full of so much energy as they couldn't wait to see some battling.

The announcer spoke.

**Welcome one and all to this year's spring Stone-a-rarity tournament! I can see you're all ready to see some tough battling go down, as am I!**

**This year we have sixteen contenders reaching for the chance to win two rare Moon Stones! One of several different evolutionary stones that allow certain pokemon to evolve! Though before that can happen, the rules must be put to place!**

**All trainers have entered with two pokemon! And the tournament is broken down into four rounds! Today will be round one!**

**In round one, all sixteen trainers will battle in one on one battles! The round will not be over until the sixteen are cut down to the eight!**

**Round two will be another one on one, but they must now use the second pokemon they registered! These battles will keep going until the eight are down to four!**

**Round three is the semi-finals! These battles will be a two on two battle and will continue until only two are victorious!**

**Round four is the finals! In this last round, the finalist will be having a double battle and it will not over until one has become the winner!**

**Now enough of the rules! Let's place these trainers in random order and let's get these battles going!**

The crowd lost it after that. There was a large that showed the faces of the sixteen trainers that were in the tournament. They soon began flying all over in a rapid speed before slowing down and falling in random pairings.

Inside the stadium, underneath the stands, Blare and Misty were watching the pairing in a small flat screen TV.

"Looks like you're in the B-block… second match... some guy name Spencer." Said Misty.

"Yea, looks like it… I just wish they didn't randomize it so fast… I think I recognized one of the trainers." Blare spoke.

"Well that would be a good thing. Then you would know what pokemon they would use." Misty spoke. "Who are you going to use first?"

"I'm going with Flareon first. I'm going to say Growlithe for the next round." Answered Blare.

Misty smiled as she looked at Blare. "Confident that you're going to get far I see."

Blare smirked. "Well I am."

The announcer spoke on the screen, getting their attention.

**The first battle is over already! This little girl is really something! Missy is going next round!**

"Hey that's the girl from the restaurant yesterday." Blare brought up.

"Yea and she must be a good trainer if she finished the first block so fast." Misty added. "But don't focus on that right now. You're next."

Blare nodded. "Wish me luck."

Misty raised a brow. "I thought you knew you were going to make it to the next round."

Blare shrugged. "Wouldn't hurt, would it?"

Misty let out a small giggle. "True… good luck Blare. I'll be cheering you on in the stands." With that, she left, leaving Blare alone for a moment.

Her picture and this Spencer guy showed up on the screen. She took a deep breath before making her way outside…

**=End of Chapter Twelve=**


	13. Chapter 13

**=Chapter Thirteen: First Round Burn Out=**

The announcer called out the next contestants.

**With the A-Block out of the way, we now move into the B-Block! On one side we have a trainer Celadon City! And by her choice of pokemon, I'm guessing she's one burning contender! Let's give it up for Blare!**

The crowd roared with thrills. Blare walked out from under the stands and out to the battle field. She smiled and waved at them, taking it all in.

**And now let's introduce our next contender! He's from Pewter City, our sister city from the west! His pokemon choice tells us he knows how crawl under your skin! Let's cheer for Spencer!**

The crowd grew even louder when he entered.

He seemed about Blare's age. It was obvious he dyed his hair since mint green wasn't seen every day. He did seem to give off emotions. He was just blankly walking up to the field. Not once did her look at anyone besides Blare.

When they stood at each ends, the referee spoke. "This'll be a one on one battle and that means no substitutions! When one's pokemon is unable to continue the battle will be over!" The referee swung the flag. "Begin!"

Blare threw the ball. "Come out, Flareon!" The flame pokemon came out of the ball and stood on the field, ready to battle.

Spencer held onto his pokémon's ball. Before he threw it, his blank expression suddenly turned serious. He the throw the ball. "Go! Butterfree!"

Out flapped a pokemon that was about a foot and a half tall. It looked down at Flareron with its large red eyes. Its tiny blue hands were up closed to its dark purple body. Since its large clear and black wings were keeping it up, its long blue feet were swinging about. Its long antennas were bending forwards and it had little fangs coming out of its blue mouth. "Free!" It shouted.

Blare left her bag at the gym, but brought her pokedex. She quickly looked the pokemon up.

"_**Butterfree, the Butterfly Pokemon and the evolved form of Metapod. **_

_**Butterfree has a superior ability to search for delicious honey from flowers. It can even search out, extract, and carry honey from flowers that are blooming over six miles from its nest."**_

The announcer then spoke again.

**The B-Block battle is between Butterfree versus Flareon! By type, Flareon's fire type can outmatch Butterfree's bug and flying type! Though we won't really know until the end of the battle!**

"Flareon, use Fire Spin!" Blare commanded. Flare stood her ground and shoot out the spiraling fire. It quickly surrounded Butterfree.

"Confusion!" Spencer roared.

One second, the fire was spiraling. Then, a neon purple aura surrounded it. The fire stopped and suddenly shattered like glass before going out. Butterfree was not harmed. Its eyes were glowing the same color as the aura.

"Sunny Day." Spencer growled. A little ball of light formed at the tip of Butterfree's antenna and threw it in the air. The sky suddenly lit up brightly and the temperature felt as if it had gotten warmer.

"Flameon, go at Butterfree with Bite!" Blare commanded. The fire type began to go run at the flying bug.

"SolarBeam." Spencer said in an angry whisper. Butterfree suddenly formed a milky yellow ball of light in front of it and shot a huge blast that was triple the pokémon's size.

Flareon stopped running, but didn't have enough time to get out of the way. The blast engulfed her. It when it broke, she was down, but slowly and surely got herself back up on her feet.

The announcer spoke…

**What a powerful SolarBeam! Then again it isn't surprising after using Sunny Day! Even with it being a grass type move, it's clear that Flareon still took some damage! That's one trained Butterfree!**

"Flareon, are you okay?" Blare asked. Flareon looked at her a nodded. "Alright then, go at it with Bite once more.

"Confusion!" Spencer ordered. Butterfree's eyes lit up neon purple. Flareon was soon surrounded by the aura and wasn't moving ahead. In fact, she wasn't moving at all. "Pull her now!"

Butterfree, with its eyes still glowing, flapped its wings and went higher. Flareon, against her will, started to go up into the air. The flame pokemon squirmed, trying to break free and regained control.

Blare didn't know what to do. The sight of it reminded her of when she and Growlithe faced Sabrina and Alakazam back at the Saffron Gym. Flareon was in the same situation that Growlithe was in. Being forced to do something.

"Drop it." Spencer growled.

The aura around Flareon disappeared and she when plummeting to the ground. "Flareon, use Fire Spin to slow yourself down!" Blare quickly reacted. The fire type shot the fire down at the ground and slowed her fall.

"No you don't! Butterfree use SolarBeam!" Spencer commanded. Butterfree flew above. Sunny Day was still in affect and the blast quickly shot. It went down and hit Flareon from the back. The force stopped Fire Spin and she hit the ground in a rapid speed. The collision caused dirt clouds to form and blow off in every direction.

When it all clear out, Flareon was struggling to stand.

"Go at Flareon with Tackle!" Spencer ordered. The butterfly pokemon flew down and went straight at the fire type.

"Flareon, dodge!" Blare shouted. Flareon was able to stand.

Butterfree reached her and backed up to force its body into the tackle. Flareon jumped back, missing the attack. From here, Butterfree continued an endless cycle of Tackle and Flareon continued to jump back, dodging them.

Blare knew Flareon couldn't keep it up for long. She took some serious damage and could burn out at any moment. She couldn't figure out what to do. She couldn't get Flareon to land one hit on Butterfree. No matter what she did, Butterfree would stop her.

It was this idea that Blare got a feeling she had seen this before.

Suddenly one of Butterfree's Tackle hit Flareon head on and the fire type flew back before hitting and rolling on the ground.

"Again, Tackle!' Spencer commanded. Butterfree did what it was told and went at Flareon. Again the cycle went.

Blare's mind was racing. The way Spencer was commanding Butterfree kept pushing her to remember something. Butterfree used confusion to break the Fire Spin and control Flareon's body when she was running. It used SolarBeam when Flareon was going after with Bite and when she was stopping the damage with the fall… it then struck her.

Flareon… back in the wild.

Flareon used Fire Spin out of all the moves she knew back when she was a wild pokémon. She kept her distance until the end when she was caught. If Butterfree was the same then, that meant it had a fragile body. One hit could probably enough to stop it.

The only problem was how to get close enough.

"Butterfree use Confusion!" Spencer ordered. Butterfree's eyes lit up and the aura surrounded Flareon once more. "Pull Flareon into the sky!" Like before Butterfree flew up high and Flareon unwillingly followed.

Blare panicked. Flareon was going to fall again and if she tried to stop it, Butterfree would just use SolarBeam to force Flareon to crash.

"Drop Flareon!" Spencer growled. The aura left and Flareon once more went falling. "Now use SolarBeam!" Butterfree started to create the blast. Yet something happened. The temperature dropped a bit. And the sky dimmed lightly. The ball of light needed to make the blast suddenly slowed down in growth.

Blare took this opportunity. "Flare quick, use Fire Spin to soften the fall!" Flareon used the attack and slowly began to go down. She soon landed and not any more than a second later, SolarBeam kicked in and Butterffree shot the blast. Flareon quickly ran out of the way and the blast hit the ground.

The announcer spoke into the mike…

**Talk about a lucky turn of events! Sunny Day's effect has finally faded away and now it will take Butterfree longer to use SolarBeam! Blare and Flareon my now have a chance at winning this!**

The crowd cheered. Misty, who was in the crowd, looked concerned. "Come Blare… Flareon." She said. "Win this battle."

"Butterfree, Confusion now!" Spencer ordered. Butterfree's eyes glowed once again.

"Quick Attack now!" Blare countered. The fire type speed up and stared to run. Butterfree's eyes stopped glowing and was trying to lock onto Flareon. Blare hoped as long was Flareon was moving, Butterfree couldn't grab a hold on her.

"Jump and used Fire Spin!" The fire type jumped and was right in front of the bug pokemon.

"Confusion!' Spencer commanded. Flareon shot the fire. Butterfree used the psychic attack to push the fire away. Yet because of the close range, the Fire Spin wasn't complete missing its target.

Flareon landed back on the ground. Butterfree was now flying funny. Its right wing was flapping properly, but its left wing was struggling. The tip was burned. Because of this, Butterfree was quickly starting to get lower and lower to the ground.

"Now Flareon, use Quick Attack again!" Blare ordered. The flame pokemon ran with speed. Because Butterfree was so close now, Spencer had no time to call out an attack and the bug pokemon was struck. Its wings gave out and it tumble to the ground.

It took a moment, but Butterfree was up. The only problem was that it was on its feet and its wings were disabled at the moment.

"Once more, Quick Attack!" Blare commanded and Flareon went running.

"Sunny Day now!" Spencer shouted. Butterfree quickly shot the ball of light up into the air and it got brighter. "Now use SolarBeam!" With Sunny Day out again, SolarBeam charged faster and the pokemon blasted it at the fire type.

"Jump now!" Blare shouted. Flareon jumped right as the blast was about to hit her. She was still going forwards and at Butterfree.

"Stop the attack and get out of the way!" Spencer ordered.

"Fire Spin!" Blare shouted.

Flareon's face was and foot away from Butterfree and she shot the spiraling fire. The bug type was engulfed in the flames and it continued to be as Flareon was still flying. She went over Butterfree and landed a foot away from it.

When the fire broke, Butterfree fell…

The referee checked and raised the flag. "Butterfree is unable to battle! Victory goes to Flareon and Blare!"

The crowd went crazy. The announcer spoke.

**That's it! After a rough start and a close call, Blare and Flareon were able to turn things around and defeat their opponents! They're moving on to tomorrow's second round!**

Blare jumped and threw a fist in the air. Flareon ran to her and jumped and was caught in Blare's arms. Both were trilled. And so was Misty as she clapped in the stands.

* * *

Under the stands, Blare sent Flareon into her ball and made her way into the room she was in before the battle. There, Misty was waiting. They quickly embraced in a hug.

"Looks like you were right." Misty said. "Just three more battles and you've won the whole thing."

The broke the hug and Blare smiled. "Yep, but I'll admit, that was a tough battle. I wish I could find out who I'm going to battle next." Just then, Blare noticed there was a little bit of dirt on Misty's shoulder. "Um, Misty, you got a little something on the shoulder."

Misty checked and saw the dirt. "Oh, yea, it must have been from the guy." She said, brushing the dirt off.

"What guy?" Blare asked.

"When I was coming over here, I bumped into a trainer that was going into the C-Block round." Misty explained. "I've got to tell you, he was pretty dirty. Though it was like a light layer in away."

Something went and clicked in Blare's head. "This guy… he wouldn't have been wearing all white… was he?"

"Well… now that you mentioned it… yea." Misty spoke. "And you know, when he said excuse me, he sounded funny… he sound like… um."

"A hippy?" Blare finished cautiously.

"Yea, I guess that's about right." Misty replied.

Blare's brow went up. "No way… I thought one of the trainers looked familiar… but it can't be."

**=End of Chapter Thirteen=**


	14. Chapter 14

**=Chapter Fourteen: Firing Against The Odds=**

The C-Block round was running its course. A large explosion had erupted on the field from the intense battle. When it cleared, two trainers and their pokémon could be seen.

The announcer spoke.

**Unbelievable! Even with a double weakness to Kingler, Rhydon is able to hold itself off! And not just that, Rhydon seems to have the upper hand!**

"Keep it together Kingler!" Said the water type's trainer. The Kingler was visibly wounded. It was clear it's had taken a large amount of damage from its opponent.

The Rhydon on the other hand, showed to have taken not even a scratch. The mostly gray pokémon was standing tall. It was as if it hadn't even battled yet. And as for its trainer, he sat there on the ground. He seemed completely relaxed.

"Kingler, go ahead and use Ice Beam!" Commanded Kingler's trainer.

The pokémon swung its larger claw up and threw it back; shooting a light blue beam of ice that went directly for Rhydon.

"Use Ice Beam, Rhydon." The clam trainer spoke. Rhydon opened its mouth and shot its own beam of ice.

The two Ice Beams collided and canceled each other out. They shattered into a cold blue mist that quickly faded. The crowd roared in excitement at the sense.

"Now use Earthquake." Said Rhydon's trainer. The Rhydon then jumped, only leaving the ground just under a foot. When it landed, the ground shook violently and the vibration went straight from Kingler.

The moment it hit Kingler, it began to swing back and forth and left and right. It struggled to keep its balance.

"Finish with Thunderbolt, buddy." Spoke Rhydon's trainer, surprising Kingler's trainer.

Electric sparks began to surge around Rhydon's body before the pokémon was completely covered with electricity. Rhydon shot a large stream of it up into the air. It then dive forward and struck Kingler. The water type screeched in pain as it took its weakness head on.

When the attack stopped, Kingler fell to the ground and didn't get up. Its trainer was speechless.

The referee raised a flag up at Kingler's direction. "Kingler is unable to battle!" He began. "Victory for this round goes to Rhydon!"

The crowds cheering went up in volume and the announcer spoke once more.

**Amazing! From how this tournament's been going, it's clear that a type advantage has no say here. And Rhydon and Terro are proof of that! They're moving on to the next round!**

"Terro… I knew it." Blare spoke, sitting in the stands with Misty.

After coming victorious in the first round, Misty had told her of bumping into someone who sounded similar to Terro going out to battlefield. The moment she did, Blare ran out to the stands to see for herself if it really was him. Now, she had gotten her answer. It was him.

Rhydon walked over to Terro. The hippy-like kid got up and patted the pokémon for a job well done before sending back into its ball. As he turned around to walk off, he spotted Blare. He smile instantly and waved at her. "Hey Blare!' He shouted over the crowd. "Funny seeing you here!"

Blare ran over to the safety bars and leaned over to get as close as possible. "Terro! What're you doing here!?" She shouted back.

Terro scratched the back of his head and laughed. "Honestly!" He began. "I haven't got the slightest clue!"

Blare tilted her head. "What!?"

* * *

Blare and Misty, along with Terro, went back to the Cerulean Gym. The three gathered around the battlefield to make sense of Terro's sudden appearance.

"So… let me get this straight. You have no clue, and I mean no clue at all, on how you were going to west and somehow ended up here in Cerulean City?" Blare asked, leaning over to Terro.

Terro chuckled. "Well, actually, I think I might know how I ended up here… It's kind of embarrassing to talk about though."

"I'm all ears." Said Blare.

"Well, you see, the thing is… After we separated, I was going west, like you said." Terro began. "But one day, I got really tired in the middle of the day. So I took a quick nap… And I was still next to the stream. Though, when I woke up, I ended up right outside Cerulean City."

"Okay… now HOW did you get here?" Blare asked.

"Well when I woke up, my clothes were all wet… I guess I rolled off in my sleep and fell into the stream." Terro explained and chuckled again.

Blare squinted her eyes. "You rolled… into the steam… and you didn't wake up until you got here."

Terro nodded with a goofy smile.

Blare looked at the ground for a moment and then back at Terro. "How does that even happen?"

Terro just shrugged.

Blare blinked twice. "I… I don't know how to respond to that… I don't." Terro was about to say something, but Blare quickly covered his mouth with her hand. "No, no… I've um… I've heard from you."

Misty crossed her arms and looked at them, confused. "Wait, Blare I still don't understand, how is it you know… um… Terro, was it?"

Terro nodded, his mouth still covered.

Blare explained. "I happened to run into him when I left home… well… actually… I was kind of forced to run into him… some things had happened… it's a long story."

Terro nodded, agreeing, his mouth still covered.

"Oh… okay." Said Misty. "Well… in any case, if you don't have anyplace to stay, you're more than welcome to stay here."

"Thank you." Terro said, muffled.

Blare raised a brow at Misty. "You know, you'll real nice to strangers Misty. Don't you think it's a little dangerous to just invite people to stay on the spot?"

Misty smile. "I'm a fine judge of character. And besides, there's plenty of room here anyways."

"Can you get your hand of my mouth now Blare?" Terro asked.

Blare looked at him. "Not yet." She said. And then looked back at Misty. "Still, are you sure you want him to stay here? I only spent two days with this guy and trust me, you should think about it."

"How about now?" Terro asked.

"Not yet." Blare replied.

"I know you've spent more time with him then I have, and yes that sleep thing seems a bit strange, but I'm really okay with him staying her. I have three older sisters and they're off in another region right now. Sure they're annoying, but it does get a bit lonely when they're gone." Said Misty.

"Now?" Terro asked.

Blare looked at him. "Not yet." She replied and focused back at Misty. "I still think you should think about your choice in letting him stay here… REALLY think about it."

Misty sighed. "Okay, look, since you want me to really think it through, how about this. I'll have a battle with him. And Afterwards I'll decide if he could stay here from how it went… Is that okay with you Blare?"

Blare looked at her for a second. Then looked at Terro. And then back to Misty. "Well…. Okay… I guess that seems right."

"How about now?" Terro asked.

* * *

Misty and Terro stood at each ends of the battlefield while Blare sat in the stands. She began to think about how this battle would go. Misty was a gym leader and she's seen how she can battle. Though, she's also seen how Terro can battle. The tournament showed that type advantage didn't matter when it came to him.

Evidently, she would just have to wait and see.

"So, Terro." Misty spoke. "How about and one on one? Is that fine with you?"

"It's fine with me." Terro replied.

"Alright then." Misty began, staking out a poke ball. "Ladies first. Go Golduck!" She the ball into the water and it sank. After a few seconds, the water lit up and out surfaced a blue, webbed feet and hands pokémon. It jumped from the water and landed on one of the platforms.

Blare had never seen the pokémon before and quickly took out her pokedex, looking it up…

_**Golduck, the Duck Pokémon.**_

_**The webbed flippers on its forelegs and hind legs and the streamlined body of Golduck give it frightening speed. Its enemies almost never have the first strike it battle.**_

Blare looked away from her pokedex and focused on Terro. His eyes were locked on to Golduck, who seemed eager to start battling. He then took out a ball.

"Okay then, go Marowak." He said. Out of the ball came a pokémon Blare knew very well. Even surrounded by water, Marowak was completely unfazed. Like Terro, his eyes were locked on Golduck.

"Now that they're out. The fun can begin." Misty spoke with a smirk. "Golduck, start with Water Pulse!"

A sphere of water formed between Golduck's hands and threw it. The ball skipped passed the water and went for Marowak.

"Marowak counter with Flamethrower." Spoke Terro. Marowak swung his head around and released a red and yellow stream of fire.

The attacks collided and steam quickly overtook the entire field. The pokémon were enguphed by it, thought, both Misty and Terro didn't seem fazed.

"Bonemerage." Said Terro.

Marowak suddenly broke through the steam and appeared up in the air. He threw him bone down to the steam covered field. To where Golduck apparently was.

"Quick, Golduck, use Confusion!" Misty command.

Golduck psychic abilities caused the seem to blow everywhere, revealing itself and stopping the spinning bone a few inches away from its face. As Marowak began to land from his jump, Golduck used Confusion to throw back his bone. Marowak caught it right as his feet touched the platform.

For a moment there was silence… then…

"Close contact Ice Beam!" Misty shouted. Golduck jumped into the water and suddenly swam such an intense speed. The water type zigzagged its way to Marowak in like then a second. It jumped out and was now in front of the ground type.

Golduck opened its mouth and shot the Ice Beam.

"Deflect." Terro spoke.

Marowak quickly raised his bone up and began to spin it rapidly, acting as a shield and causing the Ice Beam to bounce off of it.

The Ice Beam attack scattered everywhere. Parts of the floor and walls were quickly getting covered in ice. Even some parts of the stands. Blare had to stand just to be ready, in case the attack was about to strike her.

When Golduck stopped, it fell back in the water and reappeared on Misty's side before anyone could even blink.

"Flamethrower at the water, Marowak." Terro spoke.

"What?" Misty was confused.

Marowak hit the water with flamethrower. Some steam came from it, but it was nothing like before.

"Golduck, go at it with another Water Pulse!" Misty commanded. The water swung its hands and threw the water sphere.

"Bonemerang." Terro simply said.

Marowak stopped hitting the water with Flamethrower and threw hit bone. It hit Golduck's Water Pulse and shattered it. Droplets of water flew all over, but the bone kept spinning towards Golduck.

"Dodge it by diving into the water!" Misty shouted.

The water type jumped back into the water, missing the bone by just seconds. The bone span back and Marowak caught it with no problem at all. "Flamethrower again." Terro then said.

Once more Marowak hit the water with Flamethrower and again there was steam. Still Misty didn't understand why Terro told Marowak to do so. Until that is, bubbles began to appear in the water, and Golduck's head popped up, gasping.

The water's temperature was rising up fast by Marowak's Flamethrower. And Golduck was beginning to be affected by it. "Golduck, get out of the water!" Misty quickly acted. Golduck jump out and got on a platform. Steam was coming off from its skin.

Misty smirked as she looked at Terro. "I have to say," She began. "Normally a fire type move wouldn't do anything on a water type head on, but your way of using it is impressive."

"Thanks." Terro replied. "You're Golduck's a cool pokémon. And a really fast swimmer too. I had to get rid of the water some way."

"Let's not stall this any longer. Show me what you really got." Misty added.

Blare widened her eyes. "What they really got? You mean they were holding back?" She asked herself, shocked.

"Golduck, Ice Beam!"

"Marowak, Flamethrower!" Terro commanded, actually sounding more into it.

The pokémon used their moves and they collided. Blare could see the difference. The attacks were much stronger and the contact was much harsher. Blare even noticed the temperature in room was suddenly changing between hot and cold over and over. They really were holding back before.

The attacks caused an explosion and smoke quickly took up the whole field. It stayed that way for a few minutes before clearing up.

Marowak and Golduck were standing on the platform, not moving at inch.

The trainers took out their poke balls and sent the pokémon back into them. "That will do." Misty said. "You definitely could stay here."

Blare was confused. "Wait, that's it? But nobody won."

"I said I would make my choice from how the battle turned out. I never said that he had to beat me." Misty explained.

Blare was speechless.

**=End of Chapter Fourteen=**


	15. TO ALL WHO READS THIS STORY

To All Who Reads This Story

I'm putting this up to say that this story will be in a temporary hiatus. You see, I was really getting into this story at first, but the farther I got, the more I realized I didn't think it through. I can't think of how to continue it. And while I was trying to, I actually got a lot father writing the other stories to this series. I apologize for this sudden statement, but if you like, please check out the story, **The Master of Fighting**.

The first chapter is up. Please, if you have the time, read and review the story. Again I'm sorry for this sudden statement. and I hope this other story keeps you guys interested in the master series.

Thank You

Nobodies-are-Somebodies


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